From Across the Galaxies
by Lord Darth Master
Summary: Just as the Sith move into position to overthrow the Galactic Republic, an old friend returns to known space and Darth Revan is sent sprawling across time and space. Post KOTOR I & During Mass Effect 2.
1. Chapter 1

**From Across the Galaxies  
Chapter I: Transported**

A fierce explosion rocked the ground violently as a set of permacrete detonators went off. Debris ripped through the air and a thick cloud of black smoke whipped by the assembled legion of Sith that had gathered. Each primed his or her prototype blaster rifle as their leader stepped towards the blast sight. The Sith Lord known as Darth Revan assessed the structural integrity of the door his men had created in the ground floor of Coruscant's capital building. Through the visor of his faceless mask, he saw through the smoke that still obscured his soldiers' vision. The new entry would hold for quite some time before it collapsed in on itself. His demolition's expert had done good work. The Sith would have more than enough time to enter and make their escape.

Gesticulating with his right hand, the Dark Lord of the Sith signaled to his golden armored soldiers to move forward. The three dozen men and women in his legion jogged forward. Their leader stayed behind for several seconds, allowing the troops to act as blaster fodder for the building's security forces. He cast a glance back at his apprentice, who waited patiently behind him for her orders. He jerked his head at the door, indicating that she should lead the others onward. A smirk crossed her dark lips and the young Sith Lady walked passed her lord and master with paced strides.

The Dark Lord followed the young woman into the basement level of the capital. "You two," she said with a fierce gesture at the two nearest soldiers. "This entry is our lifeline. Defend it until reinforcements arrive."

"Yes ma'am," they replied in sync as their hands snapped off speedy salutes. The Dark Lady turned to the remaining troops and indicated that they should head for the lifts. Two identical elevators stood next to each other on the far end of the room. The Sith would have to go up in segments due to the limited amount of space. "I want six of you in each lift," she barked at the soldiers around her. "They'll have sealed the upper levels. Go as high as you can and hold that position. Radio your coordinates back to me once you are secure."

That being said, six soldiers poured into each of the lifts and vanished from sight as the door closed. Bastila Shan turned to her remaining men and women and pointed at a nearby stairwell. "The Republic soldiers will be expecting us to come through those elevators. We'll swarm them from the stairs and keep going. Don't expect help from the men we just sent up."

The cold attitude with which the Sith Lady had sent her men to die sent a shiver down the spine of every golden armored man and woman in the room. There were no misconceptions about their status within this war. They were expendable to Darth Revan and his apprentice. There also didn't appear to be any time to ponder this development. The Dark Lord's apprentice had already issued orders to begin marching up the staircase. The soldiers quickly marched towards the staircase and began their ascent into the heart of the Republic's capital building.

Revan followed behind his apprentice, who trailed lazily behind the nearly two dozen remaining soldiers. The Dark Lord of the Sith frowned beneath his armored mask. Logic dictated that he had nothing to worry about. The Sith invasion of Coruscant had gone better than his strategists and advisors could have possibly predicted. The scouts he had sent to infiltrate the political buildings - the capital building, the senate hall, and the high courthouses – had done remarkable work. Months of subtle observation and careful espionage had provided Revan with all of the information he needed to disable the majority of the planet's defenses. The orbital cannons had been deactivated, allowing the Star Forge manufactured snub fighters and dreadnaughts to enter the atmosphere uninhibited. The planet wide bombardment had leveled most of the critical Republic military structures immediately thereafter. In short, the Sith were well ahead of their opponents this day.

Still, it all seemed too simple. Despite superior numbers, technology, and weaponry, the invasion shouldn't have been met with so little resistance. There were hundreds of Hyperspace corridors between Rakata Prime and Coruscant where the Republic or any number of private military groups could have intercepted their path. There had been no sign of a single vessel during their journey. Normally such a simple victory wouldn't have bothered a soldier so much but Revan was no ordinary soldier. A veteran of both the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War, the Sith Lord had gained a sense of self awareness and combat prowess that few would ever develop in their lifetimes. He knew when something was too good to be true. This was too good to be true.

Moreover, Revan had something that not many other generals on the field of battle possessed. The Force pounded strongly through him. Nearly all sentient beings in the galaxy possessed some measure of Force energy but few had the mental fortitude to properly manipulate it. Among those few, Revan stood apart in a class of his own. At the age of seven, he had been capable of using his powers to disarm a Jedi Knight of her lightsaber and use it to kill his own father. Only a handful of individuals in the galaxy would have been able to catch one trained in the Force so off guard at such an early age. Even fewer would have been able to use the weapon without accidentally lopping off and appendage in the process. Revan's mastery of the Force had kept him alive that day. It had kept him alive when everyone else around him died in agony in the heat of war. His connection to the universal energy field manifested as his closest friend and most dedicated ally. He trusted it implicitly. Therefore, when the Force told him that something seemed amiss, he knew that something had to be amiss.

"Lady Shan," he said as he stopped ascending the stairs and came to a halt.

Bastila ceased her climb as well and turned back to face him. "Yes, my lord?" she asked as she moved back down so that she stood only one stair ahead of him. Due to the short height difference between them, this put the couple at about eye level. Her golden eyes looked through the mask he wore and she could tell that something had caught his attention. "What's wrong, love?" she asked, breaking the harsh exterior they wore in the midst of battle.

Revan frowned at her lack of concern for protocol. "You shall address me as 'Lord Revan' or 'my lord' when we are not in private, am I clear?" he rebuked her roughly.

With a sigh, she nodded. "Forgive me, Lord Revan," she said as she straightened up and assumed a more formal posture, positioning both hands behind her back. "How may I serve you?"

"What do you sense, Bastila?" he inquired with a bemused smile which remained hidden beneath his visor.

"The battle is going well, my lord. Today is the day when the Republic falls."

This response bothered her master. It contained military gusto and a patriotic sense of fulfillment that he thought only natural for one on the winning side of any war. Bastila saw that she hade made a terrible error right away. There didn't appear to be any outward change in his demeanor or body language but the aura around him shifted ever so slightly. Those sensitive enough to note the switch were smart enough to fear it. Bastila quivered slightly at her mistake.

"Forgive me, Revan. What have I done?"

"There is a Jedi here," he stated as he turned the information over in his own mind. He couldn't be sure that this assessment was correct. The Great Jedi Purge that had commenced as soon as he had reassumed control of the Sith Empire had wiped out thousands of the old order. The fact that one had come out of hiding to challenge him during such a moment of weakness for the Republic seemed unlikely. Yet the familiar feeling of a tempered and controlled Force aura could not be ignored. In fact, something else seemed to be with the Jedi aura; something more familiar to him.

"The Jedi are gone," she scoffed arrogantly.

"There's one upstairs," he contradicted, becoming more sure of the fact with each word spoken. "You would do well to expand your senses, Bastila.

Bastila scowled deeply as she turned her head upwards. It took her only a moment before her somewhat weaker senses picked up on what his already had pinpointed. A crooked smile creased across her lips. Beneath his mask, Revan smirked at her. She finally had locked onto the target

Revan began climbing the stairs once again. The soldiers were now several flights ahead of the two Sith Lords. Bastila quickly moved to follow.

On the top floor of the burning capital building, Admiral Carth Onasi paced anxiously through the chancellor's personal office. The Republic's highest politician sat at his desk nervously. His hands visibly trembled and each explosion caused him to jump in fright. The old man could not bear to glance out with windows. The city around his office was on fire. Nearly every multiple story building within eyesight had been leveled by the bombardment. The sight sent the deepest feelings of failure down his spine.

The politician looked up at the admiral. Carth's had been anxious ever since they had put this plan into place. Having been a witness to the bombardment of Telos and a survivor of the destruction of Taris, the seasoned soldier was no stranger to planet wide chaos. Strategically, sacrificing Coruscant to the Sith while the bulk of the Republic armada struck at the Star Forge and Rakata Prime. The Sith had no idea of their true intent. The military had accidently leaked information on Korriban and other Sith strongholds in order to throw them off. All of their primary forces would be dedicated to protecting worlds that were in no danger. Once the Star Forge was under Republic jurisdiction, they could turn the tide of the war and make up for the damage done during the first assault on the Star Forge. Still, Carth didn't like it. Letting billions of people die seemed a little bit too high of a cost for what they would gain. Winning the war mattered but at what price would it stop being worth it?

The admiral cast a cold glance across the room to the Jedi who had orchestrated the entire affair. Mina Takhisis crossed the room and took a seat on the chancellor's desk. The pale woman cast a glance down at wizened politician and gave him a comforting smile. "Don't worry, Chancellor," she cooed sweetly. "I can protect you."

These words seemed to reassure him somewhat, though not enough to stop the uncontrollable shaking that he tried to hide. The ground suddenly shook around them and a loud crash could be heard below. Another explosion had gone off, indicating that the Sith were drawing nearer to their location. Hopefully the Republic forces between the ground floor and the chancellor's office had thinned the heard but Mina knew that there would be no stopping them. They were lead by Revan. If Mina still knew Revan at all, she knew that it would take more than one building's security forces to take him down. It would practically require an army to even slow him in his tracks. He would reach the chancellor's office. And soon.

Still, the wait seemed like an eternity. Mina had been patient. It had been nearly seven years since the last time she had seen Revan. He had left her behind, broken and alone. The last time they had spoken he had called her a shell and weak. So quickly he had forgotten her role in the Battle of Malachor V. So soon had he looked over her sacrifice and cast her off. She hadn't been worth bringing along to chase after the True Sith. She would have been a hindrance and a danger to the mission. Those words had broken her heart. It didn't matter anymore though. He had come back to her after all these years. Now it was time for her to repay him for all he had done. With her powers restored and enhanced beyond her wildest fantasies, Revan would regret leaving her behind.

Another explosion wracked the building and the door blew off of its hinges. The former Jedi hopped off of the desk and to her feet as a series of golden Sith troopers marched into the room. They raised their rifles and took aim at her. None fired a single shot. They waited for their lord and master to enter the room with his apprentice. Mina eyed the pair thoughtfully for a moment before she started towards the center of the room. With a dramatic flourish of her arm, the exiled Jedi Knight bowed to the two Sith Lords.

"Welcome, Lord Revan and Lady Bastila. On behalf of the Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and the Galactic Senate, welcome to Coruscant."

"Who are you?" Bastila sneered at the slightly older woman as she sized up their opposition.

"Capture them," Revan ordered, ignoring the conversation about to develop. He indicated three soldiers and pointed to the three people in the room. The golden armored soldiers quickly moved to comply. Mina and Carth both reacted violently. Mina grabbed her assailant by the wrist and twisted his arm around. With a sharp kick to the back of the knee, he collapsed, leaving him completely at her mercy. Gathering the Force about her, the former Jedi grabbed the Sith soldier by the neck, sending jolts of electricity charging through his body. He gargled a scream of pain as his flesh began to melt and adhere to the armor he wore. When Mina released him from her grip, the sizzling husk fell to the ground, dead.

Mina glanced back and saw that Carth had successfully killed his captor, as well as that of the chancellor. Her amber colored eyes flicked back to Revan, who eyed her beneath the visor. "Your powers were lost," he commented. The subtlest hint of interest crept into his voice as he spoke, though the mere fact that he would make such a statement betrayed his emotions. Revan was curious.

"They're back," she returned evenly. "No thanks to you."

"I saved your life," he stated with a voice that denoted no emotion whatsoever. "You should have disappeared."

"I did," she countered. Unlike Revan, she hid none of the feelings that coursed through her. Anger led the horde of feelings she directed towards her old friend. "I came back for you."

Mina reached into the folds of her robes and withdrew a long cylindrical shaped weapon that ran about nine inches in length. The metal of the shell had no distinct markings or etchings. It seemed to be a plain silver device with only a single button along the shaft. The former Jedi depressed this button with her thumb and the blade of her newly fashioned lightsaber sprang forth. Its silvery blade poured from the shaft in a beam of potent energy. Mina flourished the weapon and dropped into an offensive stance.

Bastila chuckled at the display. The Sith soldiers made no move, though all of them began to mentally prepare themselves to fend off any mental attacks the Jedi may try to force upon them. Revan's mind had already begun to assess the situation. The large office that they stood in was circular in shape. Furniture and people filled the room, which would make it difficult to remain mobile if a fight were to break out. He needed to clear some space. "Bastila, kill Carth and the Chancellor. Men, return to the city and aid in the attack."

"Milord?" the Sith captain nearest him asked incredulously.

"Go!" he barked in agitation.

"Yes sir!"

The men and women saluted their superior before marching off to comply with orders. Bastila turned her gaze towards the targets she had just been given. With a sinister snicker, the Sith Apprentice grabbed the saberstaff hanging at the small of her back and activated it, causing two crimson blades to spring froth from ends. Mina flicked a glance at Bastila, wondering just for a moment whether or not she should engage the Sith Apprentice. She quickly discarded the notion. Her only concern had to be Revan. She had a mission to fulfill and, more importantly, vengeance to serve.

"Run Chancellor!" Carth ordered as he turned to the politician.

The fleet admiral vaulted over the man's desk and urged him towards the door. The two ran for it but Bastila, like a wildcat stalking its prey, pounced on them. Using the power of the Force within her, she cleared the room in a single jump. Carth pulled his blaster and opened fire at the deranged woman who had once been his friend and commanding officer. She deflected each blaster bolt with her weapon and kept on them. The chancellor left the room, leaving Carth to stall.

The soldier fired wildly at the Sith Lady, trying desperately to hit some weakness in her form. No such weakness could be found, however, and upon landing beside him, Bastila sliced through the soldier with her lightsaber. The blade passed through his torso and ripped up to the neckline, destroying everything in between. The admiral didn't feel a thing. His brain quickly unleashed a flood of endorphins to nullify the agony of the mortal wound. Within moments, he would be dead. His body collapsed to the floor and Bastila moved on. A game of cat and mouse with the chancellor sounded like fun to her.

With Carth taken care of and the others clear of his way, Revan directed his attention towards Mina. "How did you get your powers back?" he inquired as he ignited his own lightsaber. The blood red blade sprang forth with the usual _snap-hiss. _Falling into his personalized Juyo stance, he began picking out flaws in hers. Her hands were an inch and a half apart on the shaft of her weapon, making it easier to throw off her control of the blade. She stood with her left leg unprotected. A single attack to the right shoulder would leave the left leg vulnerable to attack. Her hands held the blade at an angle that would not adapt well to his second lightsaber, should be choose to use it. More importantly, her stance suggested the use of a more aggressive Ataru form, which would be unable to penetrate the defenses of his personal style. If his calculations were correct, he could end the conflict within sixteen minutes.

Mina struck first. She closed the distance between them and made a pass for his shoulder. Revan compensated by shifting his weight to his opposite leg. The blade missed him entirely and he swung his in a horizontal arc that would cut through his rib cage. The former Jedi Knight ducked to avoid the crimson weapon and punched upward at his chest. The thick armor absorbed all of the damage of the attack but the force of the blow caused the Sith Lord to stumble. Mina pressed her advantage and feigned two strikes; the first went for his wrist while the second went for the head. Both attacks met his blade and were deflected. The third strike, the intended killer, went for his hip bone. During the Battle of Dxun, he had sustained an injury to that area. Enough damage to the hip would cripple him for certain.

Still, Revan knew Mina's plan from the moment she thought of it and he side stepped quickly. Their blades clashed repeatedly as each child of the Force attempted to outdo the other. Mina leapt away from Revan, landing on the chancellor's desk. With her mind, she whipped several stray bits of furniture at the Dark Lord, which he deftly cleaved in twain with his lightsaber. Gathering the energy of the Force in her offhand, the former Jedi sent tendrils of azure electricity ripping towards the Sith Lord. Revan held his weapon up at a horizontal angle. Most of the lightning hit the blade, dissipating against the energy channeled by the focusing crystal. The rest of it scorched the surface of the Dark Lord's armor.

Revan flung a handful of Force energy at the woman, causing her to break off the lightning strike and dodge. She rolled off the desk and took cover behind a nearby sofa. Channeling her mental energy, Mina punched the furniture peace, causing it to slide across the surface of the floor, scraping the wood as it went. Revan cut the couch in half and used his mind to redirect the pieces to go passed him, rather than into him. Mina stood up and flung her lightsaber at her old superior officer, using her newly recovered powers to guide the weapon towards its target. The Sith Lord reached out with a gloved hand and attempted to snatch the shaft out of the air. It was at that moment, however, when Mina used her mind to flick the saber upwards. It evaded Revan's hand and moved in for the kill. The silver blade lurched forward, plunging towards Revan's heart. The Lord of the Sith knocked the weapon off course with his own lightsaber, causing it to clip his shoulder instead. The blade melted through the black reinforced pad guarding his should and burned the flesh covering his bone.

Revan grunted and inwardly cursed himself for allowing the attack to connect. The blade still hovered near him. Mina sent her will through the Force, causing it to come down at him. The Sith Lord screamed his will into the ethers around him, forcing the blade to stop midflight. His muscles tensed as he pushed himself into the air and sent energy out in all directions, repelling everything near him. The silver lightsaber deactivated and hit the floor. Mina dove for her fallen weapon, though Revan was too quick for her. He reached out through the Force and plucked the shell from the floor. Her weapon flew to his hand and he activated it.

Mina swore loudly just before Revan lowered both blades on her. She looked up at him with disdain. Her amber eyes focused on the silvery pointed tip of her own saber. They flicked up at his faceless mask and a wave of fear came over her. He had proven himself the more powerful of the two in terms of Force potency. Any mental attack she attempted would be suppressed within mere moments. Without a weapon, she had no chance.

"I surrender," she said helplessly as she held both hands up helplessly.

"On your feet," he said callously.

Mina slowly complied. He backed away just enough to allow her room to stand. Both hands remained raised as she got to her feet. "Harbinger was right about you," she said breathlessly as she ran one of her hands through her blond hair. "You are special, Revan."

Revan didn't respond. He had her now. It was time to kill her and move onto conquering the rest of the galaxy. Still, the Force told him that something was amiss again and personal knowledge of Mina told him that she would never surrender so easily. She still had a card to play and she felt very confident in herself it feigning loss factored into the plan.

"Do you know what a Conduit is, Revan?"

"I assume you mean beyond something used to channel something to something else," he guessed.

"That's right," she confirmed. "Take a look."

Mina jumped out of striking range and back over to the chancellor's desk. She quickly opened a drawer and retrieved a small remote, which she pointed at the center of the room. Pressing the button, she activated a hidden compartment in the floor. The carpet slid back about ten feet in all directions and the sound of hydraulics filled the room. Revan hurled Mina's lightsaber at her in an attempt to kill her quickly but to no avail. She ducked and the lightsaber crashed through the window behind her. It plummeted hundreds of stories, down to the surface of Coruscant, where it would go unnoticed amidst the rest of the Sith forces conquest of the core planet.

A large device slowly rose from the floor of the chancellor's office. Revan's visor quickly began to analyze what looked like a model space ship resting upon a slab of rock. The center of the device featured a circular ring, which spun quickly as the hydraulics pushed it upward. Revan's scanner's quickly assessed massive power fluctuations coming from the strange object and he wondered briefly if this was the Conduit of which Mina had spoken.

Mina ran towards the Conduit and placed a hand on the device. It glowed violently and began to pulsate with white light at her mere touch. "Come with me, Revan!" she called out as she extended her hand towards him. "There's a whole galaxy waiting for us!"

"I already have a galaxy," he muttered to himself.

Mina saw that her old friend refused to move and sighed. Her extended hand curled into the form of a fist and she pulled her arm back with all of her might. Revan, caught off guard by the attack, lurched forward and stumbled into the spinning Conduit. The second he touched it as well, the violent light became even brighter. The entire room was engulfed in a shimmering aura of white light and a strange pulling sensation pulled against his body. Everything became very loud. He could barely hear the sounds of the room over the noise that the strange device had started to produce. Faintly, in the distance, he could hear Mina calling out to him. The words were unintelligible, however, and he gave up on trying to understand them.

Suddenly, the energy that had begun to engulf them shot upwards and the chancellor's room was left empty. The Conduit's rings spun slower until they finally died down to a halt. Silence filled the room.

Revan and Mina were gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**From Across the Galaxies  
Chapter II: Ilos**

After what felt like an eternity of falling, Revan felt the ground connect with his right shoulder with a resounding crash. The sound of bone popping splintered in his ears and white hot pain shot down his arm and up to his neck. The white light that had obscured his vision since touching the Conduit in the chancellor's office vanished. A hazy fog continued to hamper his senses but basic colors were still distinguishable. Judging by the myriad of browns and greens that surrounded him, he had been moved outdoors. He frantically began to look around for a person shaped object in the blur as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Mina?" he called out as he searched for her.

A loud, feminine grunt was all he heard before a powerful kick connected with his back. Revan tumbled forward, landing on his bad arm. Pain lanced through him again and he had to fight to without a groan. He tried to reach out with his mind to find her but he couldn't focus. The teleportation, or whatever it had been, had disoriented him too much. All he could focus on was the pain, the panic, and the nausea welling up inside of him.

Mina smirked as she looked at the quivering Sith Lord. The bulky man in his dark armor and layers looked pitiful as he attempted to get himself up again. She closed the short distance between them and delivered a crushing kick to his stomach, knocking him off his fours and onto his back. He cried out as the blow winded him. She walked over to his pathetic form and grabbed him by the collar of his armor.

"Sorry," she hissed at him as one hand left the neck area and ripped the visor from him. "First time's a little rough." She tossed the mask away dropped him back onto the floor. Walking away from the beaten Sith Lord, she looked around to see exactly where she had landed. Judging by the grass inside of the ancient structure, which appeared Prothean in origin, they had landed near the Ilos Conduit. That was fortunate. Landing on the Citadel would have attracted too much attention from C-sec and the council. For now, she and Revan were alone.

The exiled Jedi cast a glance back at her old friend, who had managed to sit up and seemed to be looking in her general direction. It appeared that his vision had not yet returned and connecting to the Force on Ilos would be difficult. For the first time in his life, Revan was helpless. Mina found it ironic that he should find himself in this situation. Revan had abandoned her when she had been helpless; when the Force had been lost to her. Maybe he would understand the plight that she had suffered.

Mina returned to Revan's side with speed granted to her by her newly restored connection to the Force. Lacing her fingers through his thick brown hair, Mina gripped tightly and wrenched his head back, forcing him to look into her eyes. His amber colored irises were still foggy, indicating that he was barely aware of what occurred before his very eyes. Balling her hand into a fist, she launched jabbing punch into his nose. She heard the bone break beneath her hand and smiled when warm blood began to spill from his nostrils. Lifting the Dark Lord by his hair, the exile tossed him back to the floor, savoring each pained sound he made.

Sparks began to crackle about her fingertips as she brought her hands together. Rubbing the palms together to create extra static, Mina used the Force to generate hundreds of volts of electricity, which she proceeded to launch at Revan. An anguished scream escaped him as tendrils of white lightning danced across his body, scorching his armor and burning his flesh. Mina broke off the attack only when she began to feel a drain on her own powers. The deranged woman lifted Revan into the air with her mind and cackled at his mental attempts to resist her. With a flick of her wrist, Revan soared across the exposed room and struck a wall with enough force to break clean through it and land on the other side amidst a pile of brick, rendering him unconscious.

Mina ran to the break in the mud colored wall and jumped through, landing beside him. She collapsed to her knees and lifted Revan in her arms, cradling his head to her bosom. "There, there," she cooed at the Dark Lord of the Sith. "You'll be ok." She turned his head up towards hers and smiled. His pale face had been marred with blood and his now broken nose looked terribly deformed. Still, most of Revan's inability to fight back came from the disorientation associated with making a jump between Conduits. Once he had regained enough of his wits to mount a proper mental defense, he would not be so easily tossed about. She needed to leave before that happened. He had, after all, bested her back on Coruscant and she didn't fancy the idea of him going into a blind rage in the middle of Ilos where she had no means of fending him off.

"The Salarians will be here in a few hours, love," she told him as she wiped some of the blood from his ghostly white features. Running a hand through his chocolate brown hair, she still had to admire how handsome of a man he had become. It appeared that years of war and bloodshed hadn't had much of a physically self destructive effect. Dropping him to the floor with a thud, Mina jumped to her feet and looked about. "They'll take good care of you. I'll come back for you when the time is right."

With one last glance at the Sith Lord, Mina mourned the fact that she couldn't kill him. Putting him out of his misery almost seemed merciful in this instance. In addition to that, she had waited nearly six years to avenge herself on him. Being forced to wait didn't seem fair at all. Nonetheless, disobeying Harbinger would be a bad idea to say the very least. The Reaper wanted Revan alive. Therefore, Revan lived. Shaking her head, the Jedi Exile stalked away from the Dark Lord of the Sith and left the cold Ilos ruins.

The next few hours were spent in a hazy blur in a state of semi-consciousness. When he recovered, Revan would recall only the barest of flashes the temple around him. At some point, a group of aliens had swarmed him. There had been a lot of anxious conversation around him as they inspected him and his injuries. The words "Shepherd," "Reaper," and "Council" had cropped up enough times for him to log the words away for further analysis, despite his injuries. The aliens ultimately decided to move him to a different location. He hadn't been aware of being loaded onto a stretcher and being carried off. All he remembered were flashes of the changing scenery. The overgrown and ruined temple he had landed in was soon replaced by the interior of some sort of medical facility. He vaguely became aware of a team of medics and nurses stripping him of his armor and treating the injuries inflicted by Mina.

Revan didn't truly become aware of his surroundings until one of the alien's approached him with a syringe and injected something into his IV. Shortly after the serum reached his bloodstream, the Sith Lord sat bolt up, fully conscious and aware of his surroundings. He lashed out at the doctor who had revived him and back handed him directly in the chest. The strange looking alien soared backwards and crashed over a medical cart that had been located behind him. The Dark Lord leapt out of the bed and took a look around. The medical staff behind him were backing away in fright. Revan boar his teeth in a savage, wolf like manner, causing them to whimper slightly.

"Where am I?" he hissed at a nurse standing near him.

She didn't respond. Fear struck her and paralyzed her, rendering her unable to say a word. He growled ferociously at her but it did no use. The alien woman was worthless to him. No one seemed to be reacting violently towards him though. In fact, every man and woman in the room seemed to be positively terrified. They were no threat. Taking a very deep breath, Revan sighed and tried to bring himself back in control of his emotions. He closed his eyes and reached deep into the Force, attempting to find the serene inner center of his feelings. With another long, deep breath, he opened his eyes again and turned back to the doctor he had hurt. The alien hadn't gotten up. Instead, he remained on the floor amidst a pile of broken glass and plastic, unmoving. Revan walked over to him and extended a helping hand to aid the man. The alien's glossy eyes blinked in confusion at the patient's sudden change in attitude. Shakily, he accepted the offer of help and the nude man in front of him pulled the doctor to his feet.

"I'm sorry," Revan said to the man. "I was disoriented."

"Q-quite alright," the stunned physician responded, his voice still showing signs of nervousness.

"Can you tell me what's going on? And where I am?"

"Well, um, I. The captain wanted to speak with you when you woke up," he responded. "I can call him down here, if you like."

Revan sighed and walked over to the bed where he had been asleep. Looking down at himself, he could tell that there had been extensive repair done in the last few hours. Most of his open injuries had been appropriately cleaned and sealed. A few of the deeper ones had been bandaged. Judging by the way that Mina had tossed him around, broken bones weren't out of the question but none of the aches and pains associated with fractures or the mending of said fractures. Looking himself over, he also noticed that a few of the older injuries he had sustained during both the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War were gone as well. He looked up at the doctor with an inquisitive glance.

"How did my injuries heal so fast?" he asked.

"We just applied basic medi-gel treatments," a nearby nurse replied as she brought over a set of clothes for him to wear. "You should probably get dressed before you meet with our captain."

Revan looked at the garments as he picked up a shirt. The fabric felt strange against his fingers but he wasn't about to complain about covering up. He quickly dressed in a set of loose fitting sweat pants and a dark green short sleeve shirt.

"These are the only human clothes that we have on board. They belonged to a former ambassador. I hope they fit properly," the primary doctor stated.

"They're fine," he replied. "A little loose but they'll do. What happened to my armor?"

"Your possessions are safe," the nurse replied. "The captain wanted to do a full spectral analysis of your armor in order to determine its origin. The other possessions are in your locker."

"I made the armor myself," the Dark Lord stated coldly, not fond of the idea of a bunch of lab specialists touching his gear. "Tell me he's not playing with my lightsaber."

"I'm not sure what that is," the nurse confessed. "You can ask him about it though."

When Revan considered the fact that he had never seen a member of her species before, it occurred to him that the fact that she seemed ignorant as to the nature of a lightsaber may not be so strange. Things were definitely off around him. The unknown aliens that had treated him were a bit of a mystery. Their ignorance to his ways also fell into that same category. With a shrug, he looked to the doctor whom he had just helped to his feet.

"Take me to whomever is in charge," he requested.

Proel inwardly cursed his luck. It would appear that he had contacted the Citadel Council at a bad time. Nonetheless, he stood at attention and saluted his superiors as holographic projections of each member flickered to life before him. "Members of the council, I have word of our search on Ilos," he stated formally as he moved both hands behind his back. None of them responded. Instead, the four councilors simply waited expectantly. An uncomfortable silence fell for a moment before the officer continued. "My men have just breached the temple that Commander John Shepard described in his report. So far, we have found nothing to indicate any truth regarding the Reaper threat. This is, however, based on a preliminary search."

"Is that all, Commander?" the Turian representative inquired in a tone that hid none of his agitation. The alien's avian like features stretched into a frown as his projection eyed the Salarian soldier with mild contempt.

Inwardly, Proel wondered what he had interrupted but he kept his curiosity under control. The council's business was none of his and if he wanted to keep his job, aggravating them further would not be wise.

"There is more," Proel replied with a nod. "We have no evidence to believe that our find is connected to the Reaper threat however."

"Get to the point," the human representative snapped impatiently. Proel looked over to the newest councilor for a moment. At first, the Salarian had assumed that the four leaders of Citadel space had simply been involved in a special session or something else equally routine during these war time circumstances. Upon further inspection, the human seemed more stressed than the others. Proel's glossy eyes narrowed and he sized up the new politican. Something seemed off about him. The alien soldier could tell that the human's attire appeared wrinkled, as if he had been in it for several days. Large bags sagged under his dark and heavy eyes and lines of worry creased across his features. Something had happened to the man recently. Given the fact that he had agreed to join the video conference, the Salarian could only assume that the matter had something to do with his work. If it had been a personal matter causing such distress, the man could easily have requested a personal day.

Proel didn't much care for politics but his job required he at least know how the subject affected military procedure. Having come to this realization years ago, he had developed a keen ability to work out politicians quickly. If Anderson's problem did indeed have something to do with his newly acquired job, it meant that something big had happened to humanity. The galaxy's newcomers had already pushed a bit too far into the political arena as far as the soldier was concerned. Maybe they needed this in order to see their place.

"Please, Commander Proel," the Salarian councilor urged with a soft gesture towards the soldier. "What news have you brought us?"

"While we were investigating the perimeter of the ruins Shepard reported, a power surge caused our instruments to momentarily malfunction. Once the surge had ended, we picked up a new life form within the temple. One that had not been there previously."

The four councilors shared a concerned look with one another before turning back to Proel. "Have you located this life form, Commander?" the Asari inquired gravely.

"We found him inside of the temple. Human. Half dead."

"What?" Anderson blurted out. "I didn't authorize a human expedition to Ilos!"

"Yet a human has been found, Anderson," the Turian pointed out. "No one can enter that region of the traverse without proper security clearance from one of us."

"Uh, Councilors!" Proel cut in. "I do not believe that the human is with the Alliance." The four ceased their bickering for a moment; just long enough for the Salarian to explain himself. "His armor is very strange and it does not bear any human logo that I am familiar with. Furthermore, he was unarmed when we found him."

"Have you questioned him?" the Asari matron asked.

"Not yet. He was injured when we found him. Half dead in fact. So far, the only thing he's said was a half cognoscente threat towards someone named Mina."

"The man's a human!" Anderson cut in. "That means he falls under Alliance jurisdiction and, more importantly, mine. I want him brought to Earth for interrogation."

"What? So humanity can withhold military secrets from the rest of the galaxy? I don't think so," the Turian representative snapped.

"Councilor Anderson is well within his right to make his request," the Asari matron said matter-of-factly. "Commander Proel, bring this man to the human embassy on the Citadel. From there, Councilor Anderson can transfer him to a secure Alliance facility, so long the facility's location is made public to the rest of us."

"Yes ma'am," Proel replied with a bow.

As Proel spoke, a small chirping sound went off from his desk. He looked back at the council. "I must resume my duties. I will report soon. Proel, out." With that, the Salarian pressed a button on his desk, opening a comm. channel. "Yes?"

"Commander, the human is awake," Dr. Kraylor's voice responded over the intercom. "He wishes to speak with you."

"Sedate him," the commanding officer ordered his medic. "The council wants him brought to the Citadel."

There seemed to be a moment's hesitation before any response came through. "Yes sir," the doctor responded nervously. "Right away. Kraylor out."

Proel frowned as his ears were met with the dead sound of static once the link was severed. Kraylor had been a military medic most of his life now. Subtly sedating prisoners was by no means anything new. Why should this case be any different?

Revan howled furiously as he used his own strength to hurl one of the Salarians across the infirmary. The alien made contact with the metal hull of the ship and the sound of bone snapping filled the air. He was dead. The Sith Lord turned to the Salarians who were drawing their weapons. Before they could react, the Dark Lord used the Force to rip the weapons from their hands and toss them worthlessly aside. Gathering the energy of the Force around him, Revan was able to render all of the security guards in the room either dead or unconscious with a single wave of Force energy sent out in all directions.

He didn't know why, but the doctor who had been kind to him mere moments before had approached him with a syringe. The faintest changes in the Force had alerted Revan to the physician's ill intent and gave the Sith Master more than enough time to avoid being sedated.

Before more guards could come, the Sith Lord knelt beside a dead body and pulled the small pistol from the owner's dead hand. Studying it quickly, he deduced that the mechanism wasn't so different from a standard issue Republic blaster pistol. He removed the safety from the small side arm and looked to the hallway. It was time to get the hell off of this ship.


	3. Chapter 3

**From Across the Galaxies  
Chapter III: The Darkest Lord**

Commander John K. Shepard sighed as he looked at the three folders sitting idly on his desk. The recently revived soldier ran a hand through his short cropped ginger hair and slouched back in the comfortable leather chair in exasperation. Exhaustion ebbed at his strength and his entire body still felt sore from the last recruitment mission. The idea of going through two, maybe three, more equally grueling missions without a decent rest in between simply made his body remind him of how much he needed it. The N7 trained marine rested his elbow on the arm of his chair and rested his chin on the bare knuckles of his hand.

Having spent the better portion of the last two years on a medical table, the former Spectre had lost some of his physical prowess as a result of inactivity. The most trivial of activities wore him out quickly and all of his muscles burned. His stamina had decreased. His muscles had gone soft. Even with the cybernetic implants and muscle restoration therapy that he had been put through before being woken up, Shepard just wasn't as fit as he had been before his untimely death. No one knew this of course. He had managed to survive the events surrounding his awakening using almost pure adrenaline. The mission on Freedom's Progress had been accomplished mostly through the use of Biotics and technological creativity. Omega had been a different story. Through sheer force of will, he had managed to push through the last mission without showing his weakness but it had taken a lot out of him. The barriers and his hard suit had taken the majority of the brunt during the street battles on Omega but the three mercenary groups vying for power on that backwater planet were relentless. He was lucky that Miranda and Jacob hadn't noticed that he was fatiguing. He was damned lucky that Garrus hadn't noticed the change.

In time, the commander assumed that the weariness would fade as he became used to his body again. In the mean time, he needed to spend as much time as possible readjusting to being alive. He had to exercise regularly in between missions and word on regaining endurance. He resolved himself to begin basic boot camp exercises during intergalactic jumps at least until he was fully fighting fit again. Before that sort of training could begin in earnest, he needed to pick a new mission. Jack, Warlord Okeer, and Prisoner Delta were all hardcore bastards, according to their respective dossiers.

Jack's list of crimes ran at least a mile long. The fact that the homicidal maniac had been captured on a planet that had outlawed the death penalty was probably the only the Illusive Man could still contract for such a powerful biotic. Shepard still wondered how his new boss intended for him to actually convince the currently cryo-frozen convict to work with Cerberus. The next recruit, Okeer, had a long history as a Krogan Warlord who fought in the rebellions. His kill could numbered in the thousands. More remarkable still, fighting as a warrior didn't seem to be his main concern. He actually seemed, according to the profile provided by Cerberus, to prefer exploring scientific ways to restore the Krogan people to their former glory. This struck the commander as strange, seeing as how almost every Krogan he knew, with the exception of Urdnot Wrex, cared more about getting revenge for the infliction of the genophage, rather than actually trying to figure out a way to reverse the process. Okeer sounded handy. He also sounded like a liability.

Last but not least, the Alliance had a man in their custody whom the Illusive Man insisted above the others that Shepard recruit. This man sounded more dangerous than Jack and Okeer combined to be honest. Two years previously, he had managed to penetrate security surrounding Ilos and the Conduit, escape from and murder an entire star ship's worth of Salarian soldiers and scientists, and make his way as far as the Quarian Flotilla before being captured by Quarian and Alliance military. After being put on a trial in secret, the council declared him guilty of numerous war crimes, specifically pertaining to the war with the Geth. As a human, he was handed over to the Alliance for execution. Interestingly enough, Cerberus had discovered that the killer had never been put to death. Instead, he had been transferred to a secret Alliance prison aboard the Citadel.

Oddly enough, this recruit seemed to have no name. During the course of the last two years, Councilor Anderson had been able to do nothing to discover the identity or origin of the prisoner. Everything about him seemed to be shrouded in mystery. Even using Spectres to try to uncover his past, the Alliance had found no trace of him. Even after using every bit of facial recognition software available, this man hadn't been found on any planet known to have even the smallest human population. His psych assessment, as well as Anderson's personal report seemed to indicate him to be a highly intelligent individual, capable of thought on a level well above that of the average human.

Another strange fact that cropped up in the dossier provided by the Illusive Man was the fact that this man seemed to have some sort of altered biotic abilities. According to the surveillance footage from the Salarian ship, this person used several telekinetic powers without the slightest biotic aura or emission. This man's powers well exceeded those of any biotic that Shepard had met. He had literally ripped a Salarian in half using only his mind. Even Lt. Kaidan Alenko, one of the former Spectre's fallen comrades, hadn't had that kind of power and he had been outfitted with an L2 biotic implant. Whoever had tweaked this man really knew what they were doing. The question just became whether or not he was stable enough to work with. The L2's had driven most of their users into insanity. What sort of effect would something this powerful have on the brain?

Curiosity motivated Commander Shepard when he reached over to the communications channel near his desk and opened a line between himself and the ship's pilot. "Joker," the marine said authoritatively through the microphone.

After a moment, a buzz of static burst through the comm. and was followed immediately by the voice of his pilot. "Yes sir?" A hint of agitation seasoned the dutiful tone that the flight lieutenant used to respond and his commanding officer could only assume that Joker and the new ship's artificial intelligence unit were not getting on very well at the moment.

Smiling to himself, Shepard responded. "I want you to take the Normandy into the Citadel."

"Aye, aye, Commander," Joker said back after just a moment. "Should be able to bring us in a couple of hours from our position."

Shepard didn't even bother to respond to the ETA. Instead, he simply slouched back into his chair and let out another enormous sigh. He mind began to feud about whether he should make good on his mental promise to train between missions or catch a few hours of sleep before the next one started.

* * *

Councilor David Anderson looked up from his desk on the top floor of the human embassy on the Presidium of the Council Citadel as he heard the automatic door to his office slide open with a faint jingle. The dark skinned man did an immediate double take as his brown eyes suddenly went very wide. His chair hit the ground from the speed with which the former Alliance captain stood up. His mouth opened and closed several times, during which he could only utter a few incoherent grunts and sputters. Shock ran rampant through his entire system and would not subside, no matter how hard he tried.

As if the last two years had never happened and they had only seen each other a few days ago, John Shepard strolled casually up to his old friend's desk with a smirk dancing across his lips. Dressed in his old crimson and black N7 military armor, he was simply a vision of the past. There had been no physical signs of aging. The only difference that the former soldier could see were the exposed cybernetics that glowed a faint orange color beneath his skin. One lined his cheek, while another danced across his eye. Nonetheless, he looked damned good for a dead man.

Behind Shepard, a young woman whom Anderson did not recognize walked.

This woman, maybe in her early twenties, was dressed in a form fitting jump suit that did little except accentuate her voluptuous form. Her skin seemed very pale in comparison to most individuals, which contrasted sharply with her dark brown, nearly black hair. Anderson also couldn't help but notice that a pistol hung from her belt and slapped against her thigh as she walked. Her face seemed to show only a dry contempt for the councilor, which he regarded immediately with distrust. His lack of faith in this young thing only increased when he recognized the emblem sewn into his suit just above her left breast.

"Hello Councilor," Shepard said fondly as he extended his hand towards the retired military officer.

"You're alive?" was all that the dark skinned man could respond, his eyes still fixated on the emblem on Miranda's outfit.

"Likes to stare more than most old men," she commented dryly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

The snide comment quickly sobered the man up and he turned to face Shepard, his expression becoming very serious. "I heard rumors that you were alive and working for Cerberus. I never once believed but… Cerberus?"

"It's a long story, David," Shepard comment as he withdrew his offer for a hand shake. "Most of it wasn't my choice."

"But where have you been for the last two years? Damn it, boy, you left the entire galaxy heart broken after the Normandy was attacked. And for Cerberus?"

Shepard shook his head quickly. "Let me explain. David, this is Operative Miranda Lawson," he stated as he gesticulated towards the lovely young woman. "After I was killed, she headed up a Cerberus science team which worked to bring me back to life. Long story short, it worked."

"Bring you back to life?" Anderson repeated, a little bit dumbfounded. "I don't believe it."

"Believe, Councilor," Miranda interjected, not appreciating a politician making light of the work she had done. "The commander was brought to us in a body bag that contained less than half of a human being. We were just lucky that his brain was still intact. Most of what you see here was synthetically grown in a lab. Skin cells, hair grafts, muscle mass combined with advanced cybernetics and about four billion credits and you've got a walking, talking, Shepard."

Anderson looked from Shepard to Miranda and back again. The two locked eyes and the former Spectre nodded his affirmation of the story's validity. "I've only been conscious for about two weeks. I've also been a bit busy since I woke up."

The human councilor turned and picked up the chair he had knocked over before proceeding to sit in it. "And you work for Cerberus now?"

Shepard shifted uncomfortably regarding the subject but nodded. "Is the council doing anything to stop the Reapers?" he asked in return.

Councilor Anderson shook his head and looked up at Shepard gravely. "You were the only one with enough credibility to push the Reaper story on the Council. Even once I become a full fledged member, the three of them didn't have enough respect for me to entertain the notion that the Geth weren't behind the Sovereign attack. For formality's sake, they launched a nearly unfunded investigation into your report but that was interrupted and incentive to try again never came up. I'm sorry, John."

"I'm sad to say, I'm not surprised," Shepard said with a shrug. "I warned them time after time about the Reapers and Saren. They always chose to ignore me. That's why I had to join forces with extremists like Cerberus. That's why I am fighting my way across the galaxy in preparation for a suicide mission through Hell's gates."

Anderson nodded his understanding. While the dark skinned man did not trust the company his old friend now kept, he couldn't deny the validity of anything being said. He councilor slouched back in his chair and folded his hands. "I may regret saying this, but is there anything that I can do to help?"

Miranda smiled at the question, though a sharp glance from her commanding officer erased it quickly. Shepard turned back to his friend and placed both hands on the councilor's desk. "I'm putting together a team. I need the best of the best. Scientists. Muscle. Strategists. Everything we learned in N7 in one group." The look that formed on the politician's face suggested moderate interest, though he said nothing in response. "I need to know what happened to the old Normandy's crew? Tali'Zorah vas Neema is still working with the Migrant Fleet and Garrus Vakarian has already been recruited. But what about Urdnot Wrex, Liara T'Soni, and Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams?"

Anderson shrugged. "The Krogan and the Asari both went on with their lives. Wrex went back to Tuchanka. I believe he's working on uniting the Krogan clans, for all the good it'll do. Liara's working as an information broker on Illium. I don't know how reliable she would be, anymore."

Shepard nodded and raised an eyebrow. Anderson had purposely skipped over the former Spectre's girlfriend and it was obvious. Even Miranda could sense the tension in the room build as her superior waited expectantly for an answer. When none came, his hand clenched into a fist and he looked as if he might become violent. "And?" he said as he tried to remain calm.

Anderson once again sighed. "I'm sorry, John. Operations Chief Williams is on a classified mission at the moment. I can't give you anything on her at the moment. I can, however, put her in contact with you as soon as she comes home."

The tension in Shepard's body relaxed and he nodded his understanding. He had been an Alliance marine once. Most of his files were classified after he became a Spectre. Things had to remain a secret or people died. That's just how things worked in the military.

Miranda, however, had become impatient. The Illusive Man would never allow Shepard to recruit certain members of his previous team, such as Dr. T'Soni. The fact that the man continued to harp on the subject agitated the Cerberus Operative greatly. Nonetheless, she kept her composure and redirected the conversation to more important matters. "There is one person that we came here to recruit, Councilor. We need your help." The human politician's eyes narrowed as he began to develop a sneaking suspicion as to where this was going. He crossed his arms and waited for either Miranda or Shepard to continue. Ultimately, the young woman did the honors. "Two years ago, a human managed to break the quarantine of Ilos and escape the capture of the Salarian recon team that found him."

"That man's dead. I personally oversaw his trial and execution, Ms. Lawson," the former soldier barked angrily.

"He's being held by you and the Alliance here, on the Citadel, David," Shepard interjected.

David Anderson inwardly cursed Cerberus for their damn espionage techniques. That information was classified at the highest level. If the other councilors knew for a second what he had done, they would call for a vote to strip him of his council status. All of the work he had put into strengthening humanity's political position for the last two years would all go to waste. Still, it was Shepard making the threat. The two were friends. He wouldn't betray his friend and mentor so easily.

"That man is dangerous, John. I don't know how else to describe him. He's been kept in a chemically induced coma for the last two years because we couldn't control him. You're wasting your time."

"That statement would make sense if you weren't keeping him alive," Miranda pointed out.

"Damn it, listen to me!" Anderson shouted as he stood up again. "He could be the only tie that the council has to the Reapers! How can you ask me to give that up, John? How?"

Shepard's tone softened slightly as he locked eyes with the man who had helped train him, who had always had faith in him, and who had put absolutely everything on the line for him two years previously. "David, you've said it yourself. The council doesn't care about the Reapers. This man could be a valuable asset in the war against them but he's wasted the way he is now. Let me take him. Cerberus can take the blame for faking his execution and no one would be the wiser as to your involvement."

The older man looked down at his empty desk, unable to look this man he had once known in the eye. "You'll take him regardless of what I say, won't you?"

"Yes," Miranda replied for Shepard in a kind attempt to redirect the guilt away from him.

"Fine."

* * *

Two hours later, Captain Armando Bailey, escorted by three Turian and two human C-Sec officers entered one of the Alliance's most secure bases aboard the Citadel. Disguised as a simple warehouse in the wards, Councilor Anderson had been using this building for the last two years in order to carry out human and Alliance related interactions that he wanted kept secret from the rest of the council. Bailey was one of only half a dozen or so individuals to know the true purpose behind the warehouse. Even the agents following him believed it to simply be an archive where the former soldier kept hard copies of his old mission reports, investigations, and war trophies. The fact that a prisoner was being held in such a location would have shocked and appalled millions aboard the Citadel.

Nonetheless, Bailey had seen the security footage and he knew what the prisoner could do with his powers. While the treatment he had received couldn't be classified as humane, it certainly was no less than he deserved. Time and time again, the C-sec officer had considered breaking in during the night and carrying out his own execution. It would have saved the human councilor a lot of grief if the story of his defiance ever came to light. He had gone rogue as a council member and disobeyed the direct verdict of the very organization that he served. Anderson could be stripped of his political status and humanity might never see such influence in galactic affairs again. All in all, Bailey was glad that the prisoner would be taken off of the Citadel. He had always been a little too close to home for comfort.

The C-Sec officers passed by the rows upon rows of filing cabinets, ignoring all of them. At the far end of the building, a large storage bin, four meters tall and ten across, stood erect. Bailey walked briskly, almost at a jog, towards the bin. An old style padlock, as well as a contemporary retina scanner and keypad held the doors secure. It took him but a moment to key in the combination, have his retina scanned, and manually unlock the pad. Once the security measures were out of the way, he swung the large metal doors wide open.

"What sort of war trophy is this?" a Turian officer asked as he looked inside of the bin.

On what looked like an altar, a large medical pod stood erect. Various devices had been connected to it in order to ensure it remained active, even in cases of power outages. Bailey had been one of the men in charge of stowing the oblong shaped human container in this storage facility. He had hoped never to take it out again. Swallowing deeply, the C-sec captain directed his men to disconnect the spare power supplies. The device would remain in stasis for at least twelve hours after being deactivated. Unless someone specifically injected the prisoner with drugs to counteract the effect of the narcotics in his system, he would stay out for at least that long. Bailey just prayed that the prisoner would be off the Citadel by the time the morons woke him up.

He got his wish. Not long after Citadel Security removed the stasis pod from Councilor Anderson's storage facility, it was deposited in the cargo bay of Shepard's new Normandy and the Cerberus vessel left in peace. Once the Normandy was a safe distance from any real sort of civilization, Shepard called for his team to assemble.

"Garrus, Jacob, and Miranda, I want guns on this guy the second he comes out of the pod. He killed good military Salarians. I don't want to take any chances. Mordin, you and I are going to act as negotiators. This is a hostile situation. Treat it as such. If he becomes violent, anyone in this room has authorization to put a bullet in his head."

Commander Shepard gave this speech as he walked down the stairs, into the lower portion of the cargo bay. He came to stand by the pod and activated his omni-tool. The orange holographic interface appeared and he keyed in the override commands for the pod. Before pressing the final execute sequence, he turned and looked about the room.

"Is everyone ready?"

Garrus, Jacob, and Miranda all had their weapons trained on the stasis pod. Mordin kept his sidearm at his belt but was more than ready to grab it if the need arose. Shepard locked eyes with each of them in order to confirm that they were indeed ready to begin. Once he had done this, he pressed the last button in the sequence.

A metallic hum echoed throughout the room as the portable prison depressurized. Compressed oxygen ejected from the pod, causing a slight fog to fill the room for a moment. It cleared away quickly as the top portion of their new ally's cell slid up and to the side. Once the fog cleared, Shepard took a step forward. Inside of the pod, the prisoner remained dormant. A complicated set of tubes and medical equipment plugged into him, keeping him unconscious. Shepard crouched down and carefully pulled an IV from his right forearm. The drugs that had kept him under for the last two years were no longer being pumped in. Still, there were probably hundreds of centiliters still floating about his system.

Shepard moved back and nodded to Mordin. The Salarian, with a syringe in hand, moved towards the pod. He fell to one knee and quickly injected the dormant man with a syringe full of meds that would counteract the effects of the sleeping drugs. He pulled the needle out and looked up at the rest of the crew.

"Effects should become apparent soon. Six, maybe eight minutes. Hard to tell. Metabolism and health of subject this age and size, easy to calculate. Decreased response time due to long period of inactivity may cause errors though."

Before Mordin could say anymore, Revan sat bolt up in his pod, locked his arm around the scientist's throat, and growled viciously in his ear. "Nobody move!" he cried out violently as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Jacob, take the shot!" Garrus shouted to the Cerberus Operative, who, based on his current position, had the best chance of taking out Revan without hurting Mordin.

"Stop!" Shepard ordered before Jacob could respond. "Everyone calm down. We're all on the same side!"

Revan sneered at the remark and quickly added pressure to the Salarian's windpipe. He quickly took stalk of his surroundings. He was on another ship, different from the one where he had woken up before. There were other humans around, which felt like a nice change. Other than that, however, he couldn't decipher very much from the cargo hold. How long had he been unconscious? The last thing that his memory recalled had to do with being shot by one of the strange aliens that looked like the one he held hostage now.

"Where am I?" he demanded as he looked to Shepard. He could tell by the man's posture and attitude that he held command of the ship that they were on. He wouldn't waste his time addressing everyone. The conversation had just become a one way line between the two.

"You're about the Normandy," the recently resurrected soldier answered as he bid his crew to lower their weapons. "I'm Commander John Shepard."

"And why am I here?"

"Let my scientist go. We don't want to hurt you," the commander told Revan. "Let's not get out of hand."

"Why am I here?" the Sith Lord repeated angrily.

"You were put into a cryogenic coma after you became hostile aboard a Salarian vessel two years ago. My superior had us break you out. We need your help."

Revan quickly delved into the Force in order to read the man's aura. Sure enough, there didn't appear to be any deceit in his words. Cautiously, the Dark Lord loosened his grip on the alien's neck and let him go. Mordin quickly scurried away from him and rejoined his crew. Everyone in the room relaxed slightly. Only Miranda kept her gun on the prisoner.

Revan glanced at the Cerberus Operative and did a quick scan of her body. She seemed to be poorly armored in her jump suit, which would make penetration easier if she became trigger happy. Her weapon was above the size of an average blaster pistol and had a clip attached to the bottom that held more ammunition than a typical pistol, indicating to him that it was at least a semi-automatic weapon. He wondered idly if he'd be able to dodge the rounds that came from it. He had been over confident when trying to take over the recon vessel and apparently he had lost two years of his life as a result.

Two years. That thought alone was daunting. What could have happened in two years? Had his forces followed his plan to the letter and at last overthrown the Republic? Or had the lesser Sith Lords fallen to infighting and power struggles. Did Bastila still live? What had happened to Mina? He needed answers. Unfortunately, from what he had been able to tell before going into his coma, the people of this part of space were completely unaware of the events that were going on in his portion of the galaxy. Maybe things had changed in two years but he doubted it. The curiosity that he sensed in the people around him indicated that they didn't know anything about him. That could be both a blessing and a curse.

"I want to know everything," Revan said as he locked eyes with Commander Shepard.


	4. Chapter 4

**From Across the Galaxies  
Chapter IV: Meet the Crew**

Dr. Chakwas nodded as she added one last notation into her report before closing the file on her laptop. Once she had finished this, the former Alliance medical officer stood up and turned to her patient. "Physically, you're in perfect condition," she told him as she walked over to his bed. "You don't seem to be suffering from any negative side effects of cryogenics."

If Revan felt any relief at the prognosis, he hid it well. He simply sat up from the bed that he had been lying on and reached over to grab his shirt, which he pulled on over his head. "Where are my things?" he asked her. Before she could answer, he hopped off of the small medical bed and started rotating his shoulders to stretch out the aches. The coma may not have had any long term physical effects as far as the good doctor's medical equipment detected but Revan could tell her that being locked in a small box for so long gave a person a charlie-horse that didn't want to go away. All of his joints ached and felt like they needed to be properly stretched. Some good aerobics training or a good run would hopefully be enough to get the painful kinks out.

"The possessions that we received with your pod are in my office. I'll get them for you as soon as I've done your psychological evaluation."

Revan didn't like being told what to do. Still, perhaps being more cooperative with his hosts this time would result in him not being shot and put into a stasis pod for two years. He still couldn't believe that it had been so long already. It had felt like the blink of an eye to him. One minute, the searing pain of a bullet lodging itself in his shoulder blade overcame him. The next, he was on a different ship entirely and it was two years later. While it logically made perfect sense, the experience had a surreal effect on his mind. What could have changed in his own sector of space while he had been asleep?

The thought of Bastila in control of the Sith on her own had crossed his mind more than once. While she had always been an integral part of his plan to conquer the Republic, Revan knew that she didn't have the leadership qualities to rule. Her emotions had always gotten the better of her. They dictated her actions far too easily. It wouldn't surprise him to learn that she had thrown the entire empire away in an attempt to find him. The idea made him feel nauseous. All of the work that he had done in order to bring about the end of the Jedi Order had taken him years to complete. The fact that the Sith had managed to invade Coruscant had been an impressive feat in itself. He swallowed the rising bile in his throat at the idea that everything was gone.

"Two years," he murmured to himself as he shook his head.

Before anything else could occur, the sleek metal door of the medical wing slid open and Miranda Lawson strolled into the room. The Cerberus Operative greeted the doctor politely. Upon her entry, Chakwas, quietly picked up a datapad and left the two of them alone. Once the door slid shut again, Miranda addressed Revan.

"Hello," she said casually as she leaned against the doctor's desk and crossed her arms. "My name is Miranda Lawson. I'm the second-in-command aboard this ship."

Revan scoffed as he sized up the young woman. She stood at an average height for a human woman and had a moderate build. Her form fitting body suit did not hide her well-toned muscle structure or ample feminine form. As he examined her, the Dark Lord tried to get a sense of her background. Her appearance indicated to him that she was a very capable woman but her stance and demeanor did not imply a military background. Instead, she stood very casually with both hands in plain sight. Neither was near enough to the weapon hanging on her belt to be called strategically placed. Furthermore, her wavy chocolate colored hair ended around the middle of her back. No female soldier that he had ever met kept their hair in such a state. They were smart enough to either cut their hair or to style it in a way that made it as small as possible. Hair was easy to grip. It could be used against a woman. This "second-in-command" didn't seem to care or worry about such things.

"Is there something you find funny?" Miranda asked as one of her eyebrows elevated. She did not like being disrespected. Revan hadn't even said a single word yet and he had already mocked her with a simple grunt. The Cerberus Operative immediately got the sense that she would not like this man very much.

"Nothing at all. What can I do for you, oh second-in-command?" he replied as he began to twist his trunk in an attempt to work out the stiffness.

"Watch your tone when you speak to me," she reprimanded the former Sith Lord.

A smirk crossed his pale features and the Dark Lord stopped his stretching to lock eyes with the lovely young woman. His amber eyes pried straight into her sapphire ones. Immediately, he began to search her aura. Miranda's will was stronger than most but he still managed to avoid her mental blocks and start looking through her memories. He saw a man, foreboding and powerful looking down on a younger version of the ship's second-in-command. He saw that same child sneaking into a nursery, swooping a baby up into her arms. The emotional turbulence attached to these memories felt intense. He hadn't expected to find such potent experiences so quickly.

"Stop it!" Miranda shouted violently as the sub-machine gun on her belt was suddenly in her hand and trained on Revan.

The former Lord of the Sith pulled out of her mind and shook his head quickly. In less than a moment, he had regained his senses of the present and calculated the situation unfolding. Revan quickly sidestepped in order to get away from the gun and proceeded to step forward, grab her forearm, and twist it aside. Miranda's grip on her weapon loosened. The gun started to fall towards the ground but Revan, with his offhand, reached forward and slid his hand around the grip. His finger slid around the trigger and the barrel of the gun was suddenly buried in the woman's stomach.

The two locked eyes again. Both snarled at one another viciously. Miranda still had a hand free but she feared what might happen if she tried to struggle with the new recruit. The weapon could discharge and hit either one of them. While she didn't particularly care if Revan came to any harm, her own safety was of a higher priority. She also felt a bit unnerved by the flashes from her memory that he had just triggered. Knowing nothing at all of the Force or Revan's uniquely powerful control of it, Miranda had absolutely no idea what he had done to her.

"Second-in-command," Revan repeated with another scoff. "What a joke." He loosened his grip in her forearm and lowered the weapon that he had taken from her. As he turned and walked over to his bed, he began to inspect the small gun thoughtfully. The mechanism was radically different from anything that he had ever seen before. While the basic shape and trigger system clearly paralleled the blaster pistols used in his own part of the galaxy, the rest of it looked completely foreign to him.

Miranda's jaw dropped ever so slightly at having been let go in such a manner. The bastard hadn't just disengaged for no apparent reason but he also had the nerve to turn his back on her. She could easily have another weapon hidden away and he had no way of knowing whether or not she was a biotic. The fact that he felt so secure against her as to let his guard down utterly and completely stunned the poor woman. She had never felt so insulted in her life. Moreover, she had never felt so defeated in her life. Even as trapped as she had felt while living with her father on Bekenstein, she had never felt like she had no way of retaliating. There was always a way to fight back. In less than thirty seconds, this enigmatic man had managed to get passed her utterly and completely.

"Yes, I did," Revan said, answering her unspoken thought. "And I can do it again, whenever I please."

Miranda shivered as she looked at him. He stood there, leading against the medical bed. His hands were idly playing with her sidearm while his eyes remained completely fixated on her. A dark smile danced across his lips as he watched her. The Cerberus Operative could see the pure and utter evil in this man that they had brought aboard their ship. She began to question whether or not the Illusive Man had doomed them all by forcing them to wake up this maniac. Even Shepard, to whom Miranda begrudgingly admitted to being an inferior fighter, would be hard pressed to fight this man. The speed with which he had caught her gun didn't seem human.

"Why don't you tell me why this 'Illusive Man' had you wake me up," the Sith Lord said conversationally, enjoying the mental game of cat and mouse he had started. He really had no need to ask any questions. Miranda's natural mental barriers had been shot to hell already. Anything that he wanted to know was at his fingertips. Still, he needed her to know that he was in command. He needed her to know that she was his little kinrath pup and he was the master. Miranda bit her lip, unsure of how to respond. She wanted to stand her ground. Ever since fleeing her father's control, the dark haired beauty had always been defiant. Revan could sense this and rolled his eyes. "Daddy's not here to see his little girl break down and cry. Save us both some time and tuck your tail between yours legs and tell me what I want to know."

Miranda turned and simply started to walk away. The door to the medical wing slid open and allowed her to exit freely. Revan decided not to stop her. He had proven his point and someone on the ship would tell him, sooner or later. He just needed to be patient. In the meantime, he hadn't eaten in nearly two years. It was time to find someone who could help him with that. He tossed Miranda's gun carelessly on Dr. Chakwas's desk and left the room.

Less than an hour had passed and Revan had eaten his fill of the somewhat bland military grade food that the mess sergeant had given to him. He sat at the table in the mess hall, rocking back and forth on his chair's hind legs and eyeing his nearly empty plate idly when he was again approached by someone. This time, the dark skinned man that had been introduced to him as Officer Jacob Taylor approached. The Dark Lord glanced up at the soldier as he came nearer. His aura didn't have the same anxiety in it that Miranda's had had. He also didn't appear to be angry or confrontational in any way, leading Revan to believe that his encounter with the ship's soon to be third-in-command had gone unreported.

Jacob stood at formal attention and saluted Revan, which brought a smirk to the former general's lips. "Been awhile since anyone's done that to me," he commented as he let his chair fall onto all fours. He stood up and extended a warm handshake to the more pleasant Cerberus operative.

"You mentioned that you had been in the military," the dark skinned man replied with a shrug.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Taylor?"

"Shepard sent me down. I'm supposed to get you outfitted for combat. Once we're done with that, the commander wants to see you."

"If someone would just return my possessions to me, I would be outfitted for combat," he told the other man in as polite a tone as he could manage.

"I'm the one who turned your things over to Dr. Chakwas," Jacob admitted. "The armor looked pretty beat up. Not sure if it'd be much good to you anymore."

That genuinely made Revan very angry to hear but he curved his emotions and chose not to last out. Instead, he simply sighed very deeply. "When you were handling my possessions, did you by any chance happen to notice two small cylinders? They would have looked a bit like the handles of swords."

"Yeah," Jacob answered. "Didn't know what they were so I didn't touch them."

Revan silently thanked the Force. Unlike Miranda, ever sentence that Jacob uttered made him like the other soldier better. He had the good sense to leave something that he didn't understand alone, rather than stick a sub-machine gun in its face. His lightsaber was at least there. If it had been damaged at all, he would be able to repair it. Just having the Sith weapon back in his possession would be a great relief.

Jacob did himself even greater justice when he managed to requisition all of Revan's supplies from Dr. Chakwas before a psychological exam. "On your heads!" the older woman had shouted as the former Alliance soldier emerged from her office with a sealed metal box in hand. He had walked directly over to Revan's table in the adjoining mess hall and had set the box down directly in front of him.

"Lock combination is 1291," he told the newly recruited Sith Lord.

Eagerly, Revan punched in the combination on the small number pad. The pressurized unit depressed, much like his cryopod, and slid open sleekly. Inside were all of the possessions that he had had on his person when the Sith had attacked Coruscant. His armor, as Jacob had mentioned, had been horribly mistreated. The once immaculate black robes were now a dull gray color and had several signs of wear. The armored breastplate and helmet had both been scanned with some sort of device that had left the paint scrapped off. The durable, yet flexible material had been worn down terribly.

He pushed the armor away dourly and moved onto the tactical mask that had been stored beneath his robes. The helmet and mask set hadn't seen quite as much abuse as the armor had. The black color had still faded and the optics were probably suffering from dust contamination but it looked to be in order. Hopefully he could restore the functionality of his visor's HUD and get it working again. If so, he'd feel just a little bit more secure in combat. If the blasted thing had been completely ruined, he'd probably be able to cannibalize the internal components in order to create a new system in a new helmet or mask.

The mask got set beside the folded armor and Revan looked to find the last few items. A couple of other items were still inside of the box. His boots and gloves were neatly stored in the corner of the unit. The utility belt that he used to wear had been curled up and attached items had been removed and placed in seal bags. Such items included two military grade plasma grenades, extra power cells for his modified hold out pistol, his modified hold out pistol, and his lightsabers.

The Dark Lord withdrew the Sith weapon from its bag and stood up from his seat. "What is it?" Jacob asked. Revan didn't answer for a moment. He simply extended his arm, indicating that the other man should stay back. He complied quickly as a curious frown crossed his features.

The golden electrum that coated the hilt of the inactive lightsaber felt cold in his hand, which wasn't surprising considering the fact that it had been in a cold, air tight unit for the better part of two years. This particular lightsaber had been built on Dantooine, while he had still been suffering from the effects of the Jedi mind wipe. Under the supervision of Jedi Master Zhar, he had crafted the device as part of one of his Initiate Trials. The crystal had been set damn near perfectly, creating a nearly flawless blade. They had told him that it had been an impressive feat, for a beginner. It had been several months later before he finally realized that it had been muscle memory that had guided him that day. Beginner's luck had nothing to do with it.

Ever since then, he had taken excellent care of the lightsaber. After building it on Dantooine, he had added the electrum coat to the hilt on Manaan while he had had some downtime. The engravings that had been etched into the finish were done on Tatooine, while Bastila reunited with her estranged mother. Finally, the brilliant blue crystal that had been given to him by the Jedi had been replaced with a more traditional crimson one on Korriban, where he had gone into the Sith Academy under the pretense of being a new student.

That very blade had slain hundreds in the seven months that it had seen use. Countless Jedi, Dark Jedi, disloyal Sith, smugglers, gangsters, creatures, aliens, and droids had fallen to it on his quest to rediscover the Star Forge. This blade had pierced the heart of Darth Bandon, cleaved the head of Darth Malak, and had After reclaiming his mantle as Lord of the Sith, it had seen slightly less use. He had retired to positions of leadership, where less action had occurred. His troops had done most of his killing for him at that point. The only real usage that he had had for the weapon after becoming a Sith Lord again had been on the day that he had launched his assault on Coruscant.

Revan's finger depressed the activation button on the shaft and the crimson blade sprang forward, hissing violently as it did. The hum of a lightsaber filled the air and Jacob's curiosity only deepened. Testing his shoulder lightly, he swung the weapon a couple of time.

"What is that?" Jacob asked the Sith Lord.

"It's my lightsaber," he answered. "It's a weapon. Don't touch the blade."

Jacob had already managed to deduce all of that, save for the name. With a shrug, he commented, "Looks pretty handy in close quarters. Wouldn't try it out in a gunfight though."

"You'd be surprised," was all that Revan said as he closed down the weapon. He turned to face the Cerberus Operative, directly. "You mentioned outfitting me for combat?"

Jacob smiled.

Just a few minutes later, the two soldiers entered the armory, where Jacob spent the vast majority of his time while off duty. A series of tables throughout the small room were covered with a myriad of guns that varied in shape and size. "You commented that you were from another sector of space," the ship's official weapon's master stated. "How much do you know about conventional firearms?"

"Not much," the Sith Lord stated honestly as he walked to a nearby table. "I understand the concept of point and shoot. The actual mechanics of your weapons are still new to me though."

"There's not a lot too it," Jacob replied. "Every gun has a block of metal stored inside. The mass accelerator inside shaves a small piece of that metal off and projects it down the barrel. That metal acts as a bullet. You can figure out the result." Jacob picked up a standard issue M-3 Predator Heavy Pistol and handed it to Revan. "The mass accelerator is sensitive to heat though. Every time it fires, it builds up heat in the chamber. If the accelerator overheats, the gun is worthless until it cools down."

"Seems like that would become a problem fairly quickly," Revan commented as he inspected the gun in his hand.

"It can be. That's why the Alliance developed Thermal Clip technology. Newer weapons store the mass accelerator in thermal clips, which can be ejected when they overheat. Inserting a new clip lets you pick up right where you left off."

Revan ejected the thermal clip from the gun that he was holding. It seemed to be no bigger than the typical shell casing of a standard bullet that primitive planets on the Outer Rim still used. He reinserted it into the heavy pistol and removed the safety. He raised his arms and examined the sights on the weapon. With a simple nod, the former Jedi turned the weapon back over to Jacob.

"Bit primitive by our standards but it'll do," the Dark Lord commented.

Jacob didn't know what he meant by "primitive." The technology used aboard the Cerberus vessel was the most advanced in all of Citadel space. Most of the weapons had even been upgraded using black market modifications. Still, he considered Revan to be a bit of an enigma and simply let the statement stand unquestioned.

"Shepard authorized to give you a heavy pistol and an assault rifle," the dark skinned man told his newest comrade. "But he also wanted you to know that I could clear you for other weapons if they suited you better."

"Just the pistol will do," Revan answered with a nod. "Assault rifles are too cumbersome for my tastes."

"I could requisition a sub-machine gun for you," Jacob offered. "They're smaller and you'd still have the rapid fire option available."

Revan considered the option for just a moment before he nodded. That seemed suitable. Besides, he could always change his mind later. Jacob walked over to a nearby wall panel and placed his eye level with the LCD screen. The panel performed a quick retina scan before it flashed green. Once it did, Jacob straightened up and quickly keyed in a few commands on the touch screen. He turned away from the screen and moved over to a nearby table that held a series of SMGs. Grabbing one, the former Alliance soldier walked back over to Revan and turned it over to him. In addition, he retrieved the Predator pistol that had been set aside and gave him that as well.

"If you need to change up your gear later, let me know. I'd be more than happy to help you out."

"Thank you, Jacob. What about armor though? Mine is in bad shape and I don't think my robes will do much good against bullets."

Jacob chuckled at the understatement. "Standard hard suits are pretty much all we've got around here. They're effective and they can be used in conjunction with shields and barriers, so they're kinda popular with military types. Miranda and Dr. Solus don't particularly seem to like them though. Both of them just go in with ramped up shielding."

"Doesn't seem safe."

"I agree," Jacob replied. "But they haven't died so far. Haven't seen the good doctor in action myself, though."

"Well I'm not so narcissistic as to go into a fight without armor. Suit me up."

Jacob was more than willing to comply. He quickly requisitioned a standard suit from the ship's computer systems. Once the suit had been properly taken out of storage, Revan donned it quickly, showing no care for his decency in front of the other soldier. It was a simple gray hard suit with a standard helmet. The former Sith Lord quickly stretched out all of his joints and muscles, testing the mobility of the new armor. He didn't like the fact that the entire suit was one unit. It made repairing the armor more difficult if damage came to it.

While he was still testing his new armor, the two soldiers were interrupted by Commander Shepard, who entered the room fully outfitted for combat. "Jacob," the newly revived former Spectre acknowledged as he entered.

"Commander," Jacob answered as he snapped off a quick salute.

Shepard quickly turned his attention to Revan, who had not looked up from the suit of armor that he was wearing. He frowned at the lack of interest that the newest crewman showed towards his commanding officer. Nonetheless, he didn't feel the need to make a big deal out of it. Miranda had respect issues too. As long as everyone did their jobs, Shepard didn't much care what sort of attitude problems they had.

"We're coming up on the prison ship, Purgatory," he informed both of the other two men. "Joker's ETA puts us on their doorstep in about ten minutes."

"Jack?" Jacob questioned thoughtfully with a shiver. "I read the dossier, Sir. Doesn't sound stable."

"Neither did this one," Shepard replied with a short gesture towards Revan.

It was at this point that the former Sith Lord at last looked up from his armor inspection and addressed the commander. "For all you know, I am unstable." Revan's eyebrow raised, giving both of the Cerberus soldiers an unnerving feeling. A smile cracked across his lips as he turned his attention to the SMG that Jacob had given to him.

"I want you and Garrus ready to board that ship," Shepard said as he turned his attention away from Revan.

"Aye aye." Jacob turned to Revan. "You alright here?" he asked.

Revan didn't even bother to look up from his new gun. "I'll be fine," he replied dully.

Jacob nodded and quickly exited the room, taking only his weapons with him. Revan didn't even bother to acknowledge his absence. Shepard, on the other hand, seemed to have been waiting for it. Once the other man had left, the former Spectre straightened up and fastened his hands behind his back.

"Do you have a minute?" he asked in the neutral voice that he had developed over the years specifically for talking to new crewmen or allies that he hadn't quite gotten a read on.

The Dark Lord glanced up at his "commanding officer" and put the SMG aside. "I can talk," he answered with a shrug. "What do you want?"

"I like to the know who I'm working with," Shepard answered honestly. "It's always better to know if the man who's got your back would mind if something happened to you."

"Then I'll be blunt," Revan stated sternly. "I wouldn't."

"That's not the response I was hoping for," the Alliance soldier managed through a stunned laugh.

"Shepard, I get the impression that you're a good soldier. The people around here seem to like you. Unfortunately, that means next to nothing to me. I come from a galaxy that would make war on the scale that you know it look like a joke. The civilization that I invaded spans hundreds of planets and trillions of citizens and I nearly brought them to their knees. Where does that put you next to me?"

A dark line crossed Shepard's face and the small fiery colored scars that marred his skin grafts seemed to burn with his anger. Still, a sarcastic smile crossed his features. "And a single groups of scientists put you down like a rabid dog," the Cerberus commander quipped. "Maybe you had ships and men back where you come from, Revan, or maybe you're delusional and none of it ever existed. You're nothing here. The Illusive Man thinks you might be good for something, but this is my ship. If I want you gone, you're gone. We clear?"

"That threat might have been scary if I thought that you had the slightest means of following through on it." Revan stood up straight and walked right up to the commander. They were practically nose and nose with one another. The Alliance Marine stood just an inch or two higher than the former Sith Lord but their builds were very similar. Just by looking at the two of them, it would be very difficult to tell which would be the sturdier in a fight.

"Why do you feel the need to be antagonistic towards everyone on this ship?" he demanded. "We saved you. If the council had ever found your stasis pod, you would have been executed without trial or representation."

"You didn't save me because you're a hero, Shepard," Revan sneered back. "You needed me for something that you couldn't handle on your own. You're no better than the Jedi."

The reference meant nothing to Shepard. Nonetheless, he felt the need to end this confrontation before things got too out of hand. "You're confined to the ship until further notice," he spat at the other man. "Stay on the crew deck."

With that, the former Spectre turned and stormed out of the room, leaving a bemused Revan behind.


	5. Chapter 5

**From Across the Galaxies  
Chapter V: Into Purgatory**

Something felt off as John Shepard, Jacob Taylor, and Garrus Vakarian stepped down the Normandy's boarding ramp and into the main hangar bay of the Prison Ship Purgatory. The vessel, a mercenary owned and primarily Turian run space station, was filled with angry looking guards, each with a gun trained on the trio. The disgruntled looking aliens all flared their manacles menacingly at the newcomers though they made no further move towards them. The three soldiers kept their eyes peeled for signs of an overly twitchy trigger finger. Nonetheless, they continued forward, towards the warden that stood at the end of the hallway.

The Turian that stood opposite them looked just as cold as the rest, though he had no weapon brandished towards them, which immediately made him feel much warmer to the recently resurrected former Spectre. He stood in a neutral stance with his arms crossed over his armored chest. The insignia that his uniform bore indicated him as a member of the Blue Suns Mercenary Company. As his guests approached, he made a simple gesture of his hand, indicating that his men should lower their weapons. They complied hastily, though none of them collapsed their guns into their storage modes. The warden stepped forward and his manacles flared into what appeared to be a smile.

"Commander Shepard, I'm Warden Kuril. It's good to meet you," he stated as he extended a hand and accepted a pleasant shake. "Your order has been processed and the funds have already been transferred from your account. If you'll give us a few minutes, Jack is being moved out of cryofreeze now."

"Thank you, Warden," the former Spectre replied graciously.

"There's some paperwork that I'll need you to fill out inside," the Turian continued as he gestured to the door behind him. "But this is a maximum security prison. Only security personnel can be armed. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave your weapons behind."

Garrus immediately tensed but refrained from making any hasty actions. Jacob scoffed at the remark, which brought dirty glares from the guards. Shepard remained calm but replied in a firm voice. "We're not going anywhere unarmed, Warden. We can leave and the deal's off if that's the case."

Kuril sighed and looked from guard to guard. While they had not retrained their weapons on the uncooperative guests, they had ceased to relax. If there was any trouble, one of his men could take the shot necessary to end any altercation. With a sigh, he redirected his attention to Shepard and nodded. "Very well, Commander. Just don't make any sudden moves."

The Blue Sun jailer turned and started for the nearby door. The trio of Cerberus operatives followed behind him closely. None of them let their guards down for a second though. Kuril seemed suspicious and none of the three of them liked him at all, despite his gracious disposition. Garrus had spent too much time around guys like him at C-sec. He knew the type. Kuril had a hidden agenda. He wouldn't have asked three paying customers to surrender their weapons unless there might be a reason for a gunfight to break out while they were still aboard. Policy or no, doing something to offend someone paying as much as Shepard was paying for Jack seemed like a poor diplomatic move. The Turian made a mental note to keep his eye on Kuril as long as they remained aboard. Hopefully, they could get their prisoner and get the hell off this space station shortly.

As they passed into the main corridor of the ship, Shepard noted that the walls were actually ten square foot cells designed for prisoners. The walk was an interesting one as he cast glances at each of the many men and women of various species who lived in their little boxes. Some simply looked at them darkly. Others showed mild interest. A few paced back and forth. One slammed again the door in an attempt to startle them. He didn't.

As soon as they came to a split in the hall, Kuril stopped abruptly and turned to his guests. "I'll go oversee the prisoner's release myself," he stated calmly. "Our reception area is just ahead." He gestured towards the hall opposite the direction that he seemed to hover towards. "I'll be with you shortly."

"Thank you, Warden," Jacob said with a nod.

"Commander," the Turian acknowledged before departing.

The trio watched him go before they turned and started in the direction that Kuril had ordered. All three had become visibly tense at being abandoned by their guide. The prisoners didn't worry them half so much as the shady individuals that were stationed on and ran the Purgatory. Kuril and his men all had a suspicious vibe about them. It reminded Shepard very much of when he had met Operative Wilson aboard the Lazarus Project space station. Shepard cast a glance over his shoulder and met Jacob's eyes. The other soldier felt the same way. The look in his brown iris's said as much.

"Hey! Hey! Hold on!"

The three of them stopped and glanced over at the prisoner who had spoken with him. The poor young man, maybe in his very early twenties, stood up from the bench at the back of his cell. He limped over to the cell door and put his hands on the glass. He had clearly been beaten by his guards and his shaved head bore signs of trauma. Whatever his crimes were, he had been punished dearly for them. His pitiful appearance made Shepard's heart sag a bit, although Garrus and Jacob couldn't help but feel a sense of justice at the sight.

"You guys aren't prisoners. If you're here to buy one of us, I'm a good worker. My leg makes it hard for me to get around but I can cook and clean."

"You think we came to the only prison in Citadel space with this level of security looking for a janitor?" Garrus snapped as his manacles flared at the poor man.

"I'm good in a fight," the man pleaded. "Give me a chance."

"Come on Shepard," Jacob snorted as he turned on his heel and started walking towards the reception area. "Let's just get Jack and get out."

Shepard noticed the man's eyes go wide. "Jack?" he repeated nervously. "Never mind. Not sure I want out that badly."

"That doesn't sound good for us, John," Garrus commented before turning to follow Jacob.

Shepard wholeheartedly agreed. Shaking his head, he followed his two companions. The three of them continued onward, ignoring the men and women in the cells from that point on. They eventually reached a metallic door, which slid open as they approached. Inside was a large empty room, which looked like it could be a reception area. There were three desks, each with a metal chair. Oddly, however, no one was in the room. Everyone tensed visibly.

"Jacob, check the door at the opposite end of the room," Shepard ordered.

Jacob pulled the heavy pistol from his belt and activated it. Moving slowly, he walked over to the door and and pressed his hand against the pressure panel next to it, causing it to slide open. Inside, the three soldiers saw only another strange cell.

"Son of a bitch!" the former Spectre swore loudly as he reached for the M-8 Avenger assault rifle on his back. Garrus also drew the sniper rifle that he carried.

"Step into the cell, Shepard!" Kuril's voice boomed over an intercom.

"What's your game, Warden?" Jacob shouted as he turned his attention to the door that the trio had entered through.

Gesturing silently with his hand, Shepard ordered his men to take cover. They each dove behind on of the metal desks. The N7 soldier peaked up over his, ready for anything that may come. "Shepard, I am sorry, but you're more valuable to me as a prisoner than as a customer."

All three of them kept their guns trained on the door and began waiting for the Blue Suns mercenaries that would surely burst in on them.

"Kill the others but I want Shepard alive!" Kuril ordered.

In frustration, Shepard turned, took close aim, and opened fire on the speaker in the room. The bullets ripped through the device, causing it to die out quickly. "Garrus, provide flanking cover for me. Jacob, I want you to use your biotics to pick off as many as you can. I'll draw their fire!"

* * *

Back aboard the Normandy, Revan had no intention of staying on the crew deck, as he had been ordered by his new commanding officer. First off, for its impressive size and grandeur, the Normandy did not have comfortable quarters for the crew and the former Sith Lord had no intention of sharing a bunk with any of the miscellaneous Cerberus grunts that worked aboard the ship. He had found a nice little spot in the cargo hold where he had moved his few possessions and the bedding from his assigned room. He now sat with his back against the large open room's wall and his old armor across his lap. Before departing earlier in the day, Jacob had given him a basic tool kit, with which he now worked to repair the damage that both the Salarians and the Alliance had done to his gear. The work was slow and tedious and he didn't know if he actually had any chance of fixing his equipment but it passed the time well enough and sentimentality urged him to at least give it a try. The armor had been with him for many years now. To lose it would be a shame.

He idly wondered how the mission aboard the Purgatory prison ship was going. Shepard, Jacob, and the alien known as Garrus had left the ship nearly two hours previously. According to one of the Cerberus women on the crew's deck, they were supposed to be negotiating the release of a convicted criminal who, theoretically, would then join the team. The space station where they were now docked had been commissioned by a mercenary organization that looked to monetize off of criminal activity. The leaders and authoritarians of worlds paid impressive sums of credits in order to keep their most dangerous criminals in cryogentic containment.

The thought caused Revan to shake his head as he tightened one of the couplings of his armor. The Purgatory was a cesspit as far as he was concerned. Criminals didn't bother him. He had been branded a war criminal when he had been only eighteen years old. Those who committed such acts without honor or purpose, however, disgusted him. The murderers and rapists whose lives were suspended aboard the Purgatory deserved to be put to death. In his Sith Empire, the punishment had always been a match for the crime. Those in Citadel space would do well to adopt the same principal. Moreover, he almost felt a hint of empathy for the poor wretches. The Alliance had subdued and frozen him for two years. Everyone aboard the Normandy seemed to consider such a thing a type of cruel and unusual punishment but the Purgatory seemed to represent the same method on a much larger scale. Hypocrisy never ceased to amaze him.

With a sigh, Revan set his old armor aside and decided that it would not be salvageable. He'd need to build a new set using components that he could pick up in this sector of space. Leaning back, he rested his head against the wall and looked up at the ceiling, which hung nearly twenty meters overhead. He swallowed deeply and thought back to his empire. It was foolish to look back on it. Two years had passed since he had disappeared. They had either moved on without him or, more likely, they had succumbed to infighting and power vacuums. Bastila had never been his chosen successor. The woman had been powerful and a competent servant but her emotions had a tendency to interfere with her better judgment. She had simply filled the void that Malak's betrayal had left open. Eventually, when time allowed, he would have used her to mother a child and his offspring would become his succession plan. He smirked ironically at the thought. Bastila was probably dead by now. Opportunistic Sith would have taken full advantage of her weaknesses long ago.

With that part of his life gone, his only concern became finding Mina in this strange new sector of space. When they had fought one another, Mina had already seemed familiar with this galaxy. She had to be out there somewhere. When the chance arrived, he'd hunt her down and make her pay for all that she had taken from him. Then, once he'd had his fun, he would use her to discover a way back to the Republic and start over. He'd topple whatever Sith regime had risen in his place and once again wage war across the stars.

These entertaining musings were interrupted when the sleek metallic doors of the cargo back slid open and Miranda hurried into the room. Revan hastily pulled himself to his feet as she approached. Her expression seemed flustered and her body language screamed of tension. Brushing a lock of hair out of her hair, she shoved a small black metal case into his hand.

"Put those on," she ordered. "We're going into the field."

Revan wordlessly opened the small box and glanced at the two items inside. The first was a small plastic ball that seemed slightly misshapen. The other was some sort of wrist worn device with a digital screen.

"What are these?" he asked as he inspected them.

"Communications system. Put the bud in your ear and you'll be able to relay messages back to me or the ship. Control frequencies through the watch. Now hurry."

The Cerberus officer turned on her heal and started away from him. Revan moved to the storage unit where he kept his gear and retrieved both the sub-machine gun that Jacob had given to him and one of his two lightsabers. Attaching them to his hardsuit's belt as he walked, the Dark Lord quickly managed to catch up to the ship's second-in-command as she reached the lift. Stepping in together, the door slid shut and they were alone.

Revan could see that Miranda felt anxious to be alone with him in a confined space. Her arms were crossed with the palms of her hands pulling tightly on the opposite elbows. She chewed her lip nervously. Most interestingly, her eyes remained fixated on the lift's control panel and far from him. Their encounter earlier in the day must have shaken her a bit more than he had thought. A smile curved up across his features at the thought and he casually leaned against the wall opposite the door.

"Nervous?" he asked her as he crossed his hand in front of him.

Miranda didn't look at him. She appeared determined to maintain her staring contest with the panel. "No," she lied. "Tense about the problem."

"Problem?" he repeated.

"Our scans show that a firefight broke out aboard the Purgatory and our men's heart rates are elevated. We think they're in danger."

Revan frowned. "And what do you plan to do?" he inquired.

The genetically engineered woman cast a glance over her shoulder at the very pale man and clicked her tongue for a moment. "You and I are going to go in and provide assistance."

"Bold," he commented.

"Thank you," she responded.

"But foolish. You're this ship's first officer. You're to valuable to risk on a mission like this. I'll go in on my own."

Miranda gave him the look of a man who had just announced his intention to commit suicide. "They are over three hundred trained mercenaries aboard that ship, not to mention nearly two thousand prisoners, all of whom were convicted for repeated violent offense. You want to go in alone?"

Revan shrugged. "Against twenty-three hundred adversaries, do you really think two of us will make much more of a difference than one?"

Miranda knew the risk and that the odds were against them. Still, she didn't have much of a choice. If the Normandy stayed inactive, then the Blue Suns might think to take it for there own when they were done with Shepard, Jacob, and Garrus. Furthermore, if they tried to make a hasty getaway, the space station could fire on them and potentially knock their engines offline, leaving them at the complete mercy of the prison ship. No. An infiltration was their best option and as much as she hated to admit it, she needed to work with Revan for the sake of the mission.

The lift door slid open and the two emerged into the command control room. They traveled down the hall and made their way to the airlock, which Miranda disengaged. The young woman drew her sub-machine gun while Revan flipped his inactive lightsaber up into his hand in a reverse grip.

"You know you're still not combat certified," Miranda pointed out conversationally as they waited for the door to decompress.

"Well, I could use the exercise," he pointed out. "Keep up out there. I'm not slowing down for you."

"Don't need you to," she retorted as the door decompressed and she brushed passed him. Revan smirked as he followed behind her. Maybe there was something worth liking about Miranda.

* * *

A violent scream erupted from a Blue Sun Bartarian as he went flying through the air and smashed into the ground. The mystic blue aura that had surrounded him vanished and John Shepard, Jacob Taylor, and Garrus Vakarian stepped over his body as they approached a nearby computer terminal.

"Cover me!" Shepard ordered as he holstered his weapon and ran up to the computer. He quickly began to type through it before he found the information that he wanted. "Jack is here," he told the others. "In order to get her out, I'll have to release all of the prisoners under emergency protocol."

"They're gonna be pretty damn hostile, John," Garrus stated as he fired a round from his sniper rifle and took out an oncoming mercenary.

"I know," he replied through a labored breath.

"Commander, you alright?" Jacob asked, noting the strain in his voice. He stole a glance towards his commanding officer before returning his attention to the corridor that he defended. With a precise shot from his pistol, he managed to pick off an oncoming Batarian before he got too close. Shepard seemed weary. The trio had been fighting their way through the ship for nearly an hour now but most of it had been duck and cover. Shepard shouldn't have exhausted all of his energy by now. Something was off with him.

"I'm fine," the former Spectre answered as he straightened up and sucked in a deep breath. "Get ready! I'm opening the cells!"

The commander activated his omni-tool and began to interface with the computer system. It took him just a few seconds to find the override commands that he was looking for and punch them into the system. He cast a glance at the two soldiers to make sure that they were prepared before he keyed in the final command sequence.

Alarms and sirens immediately went off.

At the entrance of the facility, Revan and Miranda looked up at the blaring megaphones that were spouting the sound. In agitation, Revan reached up and balled his hand into a clenched fist, causing the Force to pressurizer around the speaker and crush it violently. Circuitry and metal rained to the ground and fell beside them, accompanied by a shower of sparks.

"Follow me!" he ordered her as his finger depressed the activation switch of his lightsaber and the crimson blade sprang forth with the usual _snap-hiss._

Using the Force to enhance his already physically fit traits, the Dark Lord started running up the hallway, following the auras of their three companions. Miranda's eyes widened as she saw how fast her companion could run. Shaking her head in mild disbelief, she followed after him, SMG raised.

Revan rounded a corner and saw to Blue Suns standing in his way. Both raised their assault rifles and opened fire on the oncoming Sith Lord. With a grunt, he quickly brought up his blade and caught the storm of bullets on it. The projectiles dissipated against the energy charged saber, a sight whiched stunned the mercenaries into paralysis.

The lightsaber swept through the air as Revan continued to run, not even slowing his pace in the least. It struck the armor of the first mercenary, burned right through, and seared through his flesh. The poor man cried out in pain and collapsed quickly. The second Blue Sun fell just as quickly as the Dark Lord took his head off.

Miranda tried to ignore the sight as she fought to keep up with the maniac that now barreled through the halls of the Purgatory. He left a trail of eviscerated corpses in his path, which made him easy to track. Nonetheless, he was much faster than her and it would be impossible to catch up unless he did in fact slow down for her. How in the name of all that was holy could this man be capable of such destruction? His strength, speed, and technology all seemed advanced far beyond anything that modern science had constructed and working for Cerberus had given her access to everything deemed beyond cutting edge. Then there were his strange abilities. As she jogged down the now deserted corridors, she contemplated how he had managed to crush that siren a few minutes previously. She herself would be more than capable of doing such a thing but he hadn't shown the slightest signs of a mass effect field forming around him. There hadn't been any aura.

Back aboard the Lazarus Space Station, Miranda had helped develop Cerberus's lineup of biotic L5 implants. At the time, she had considered them to be the finest pieces of mass effect technology short of the mass relays themselves. This man seemed to have something even more sophisticated in his head. The operative made a note to check with Dr. Chawkwas upon returning to the Normandy. Her report hadn't mentioned any cerebral implants.

While Miranda pondered the curiosity that was Revan, Revan himself made his way around the chaos of the ship and at last reached his prey. While his crew's second-in-command had brought him along to help save Shepard and the others, the Dark Lord had a more pressing concern. After all that he had heard about Jack, he wanted to test this woman. He could sense the chaos of her aura and the destruction that she had already caused across the space station. Such power interested him.

He rounded another corner and continued his sprint. He was getting closer. She had to be within twenty meters in one direction or another. He just needed to zero in on her aura, which admittedly, had become more difficult as he had progressed since there were hundreds of panicked inmates running around like maniacs. He stopped for a second to focus. Closing his eyes, he allowed the Force to guide his movements as he searched through the hectic space station for Jack.

And while Revan hunted his prey, Shepard, Jacob, and Garrus were all pinned down by Warden Kuril in the far end of the Purgatory. The large square room had two levels with six pylons scattered throughout the room. All six seemed to be powering some sort of a barrier that the Turian had erected around himself. The trio had taken cover behind three of the pylons and simply had to wait as Kuril expended ammo from his sniper rifle as he nervously tried to take them out.

Shepard's breathing came in deep, labored gasps. He had spent way too much time trying to get through this insane space station but his strength was starting to ebb quickly. His head was spinning madly and he didn't know if he'd be able to make it through the fight. He cursed himself inwardly for this strange new weakness that he had experienced ever since his rebirth. He cast a glance over at Garrus and wondered if the crew would be able to keep going on the mission without him. Maybe Cerberus would spend another four billion credits to bring him back again. Miranda had already done it once. She could do it again, theoretically. Would they think he was worth it again though?

"Shepard!" Jacob cried out.

The commander turned to his tactical officer. Jacob noticed the glazed look in his superior's eyes and knew that something was the matter. "Commander, cover me. I think I can plant detonators on the pylons if you draw his attention."

Shepard's glazed look didn't seem to have processed the former marine's words. His head lulled over and he turned away from him. "Damn it," Jacob swore.

"Jacob!" Garrus called out. Jacob glanced over him and the Turian signaled him to go ahead with his plan and then gave him a reassuring nod.

Strangely, that didn't make him feel much better. He'd prefer it if he had two people to back him up rather than one. With a grunt, he turned to the pylon which he was hiding behind and withdrew a thick disc shaped device from his belt. He placed it against the smooth metal surface of the pylon. Upon depressing the small sensor on the back of the bomb, three spiked legs emerged from the body and latched into the metal itself, anchoring the explosive into its target.

Seeing that Jacob was ready to proceed, Garrus primed his weapon and dove out from behind his cover. Firing three shots from the rifle, he successfully drew Kuril's attention. The other Turian turned his attention away from Shepard's pylon and started firing at Garrus. Most of his nervous shots missed their mark but one did strike Garrus near the shoulder. Fortunately, the dense material of his armor and the shear strength of his shields absorbed most of the damage. Garrus continued to return fire, despite the fact that Kuril's shield protected him from any and all damage that the duo could send his way.

While the two Turians traded sniper fire, Jacob went around to the other pylons and attached explosives to all of them. The energy pylon that Shepard sat slumped behind was the last one. Jacob attempted to attach the explosive but he caught Kuril's eye at the last minute.

"Stop!" the Turian shouted as he turned his gun on the Cerberus operative and opened fire.

Jacob swore as he dove to avoid the shot. Unfortunately, Kuril managed to clip his left calf as he moved and the small bullet embedded itself in his leg. Pain seared in Jacob's leg, alerting him to the injury. He cried out as he quickly dragged himself out of range and behind his original cover.

"Shit, shit, shit," he swore to himself as he inspected the leg wound. Blood oozed freely and the pain felt considerable. Nonetheless, he knew that he needed to stay focused on Kuril and staying alive.

"Garrus, get Shepard!" the human shouted to his alien comrade.

"Don't even think about it!" Kuril's voice boomed as he fired a round from his newly reloaded weapon. Garrus dropped back to take cover behind one of the stairways that would lead up to the warden's position. Two more warning shots struck near his position, letting him know that the Blue Sun officer had him pinned down.

"He's got me pinned!" Garrus reported to his partner.

"God damn it!" Jacob swore to himself. "Shepard! Get up!" The soldier didn't reply. Jacob could only assume that he had completely lost consciousness. What had happened? He hadn't taken any shots that the Cerberus soldier had seen. In fact, ever since the shooting had started, Shepard had seemed to be losing strength quickly. Something was very wrong with the man. It was unfortunate that they had to discover this in the middle of a battle. Now Jacob had sustained an injury. Garrus was pinned down. Their commanding officer had passed out for unknown reasons. Things looked bleak.

* * *

"Jack!"

The young woman ground to a halt and cast a glance over her shoulder. Her vicious features curled into a sneer as she saw a single man standing down the hall behind her. He hadn't been there when she had run through mere moments before. Perhaps he'd been hiding. He'd regret sneaking up on her. He was only wearing a basic gray hardsuit and carried some sort of energy based melee woman. A small firearm rest on his belt, indicating that he could have opened fire on her already if he had chosen to do so. He hadn't. He wanted her for something. Everyone wanted her for something. The son of a bitch wouldn't get a damn thing. With a nearly feral growl, Jack raised the stolen heavy pistol that she had pulled off one of the guards that she had killed.

Revan examined the woman called Jack with an amused look. She definitely wasn't what he had expected. She stood only at about five feet and four inches with a deceptively slight build. All she wore above the waist was a simple harness around her breasts, though the number of tattoos spread across her upper body almost formed a delicate shirt of skin. In its own strange way, Revan found a certain kind of beauty in her markings, though he doubted that most would. It seemed strange that such an exotic creature would have such a lengthy and colorful criminal history but then again, nobody had expected him to fall to the dark side either.

The Dark Lord closed down his lightsaber and clipped it back it his belt. "I'd rather not get into a firefight with you," he told her honestly as he put both hands into the air where she could see them.

"I bet you wouldn't," she snarled at him. "You wouldn't last more than five seconds."

"It's possible," he conceded. "Though unlikely." Revan smiled politely at her. It was the same unnerving smile that he had used on Miranda aboard the Normandy. That simple curvature of his lips always had a profound effect on people. It even seemed to unnerve someone as hardened as Jack. Maybe she didn't have anything special to offer him in a fight. Still, he'd come this far. There was no reason to leave without his prize.

Jack pulled the trigger of her gun. Three rounds fired off before she released it and rocketed towards Revan. The Dark Lord ducked with speed granted to him only through his use of the Force itself. The rounds passed over him and burnt markings into the corridor's metal frame. With a small grunt, he reached out and used his telekinetic abilities to wrench the gun from her. It landed on the ground several feet from either of them. Jack went for it but Revan quickly moved to intercept. He delivered a swift kick to her stomach, causing her to stumble backward into the wall. Before she could react, he was on her. The Sith Lord assaulted her with a series of Echani attacks with which she could barely keep up. Adrenaline rushed through her, allowing the murderous woman to match him in terms of speed. She deflected all of his strikes until finally, frustration gave way to an outburst.

Jack reached into her mind and took control of her entire central nervous system. A thick blue aura of dark energy began to formulate around her as she continued to battle her assailant. Once she had enough control, which only took a moment, she unleashed a furious warp field. Revan was thrown backwards and slammed into the wall, denting it upon impact. Jack didn't squander her advantage. Gathering up another warp field, she lifted him into the air and proceeded to slam him back down into the ground. Attempting to repeat the process, she threw her arm up into the air again. Revan felt himself come up off of the ground but he knew what to do. Gathering up the little Force energy that he could quickly, he hurled it at her. The soft blow caused her to stumble backwards, destabilizing her mass effect field and dropping Revan down to the floor. He hopped up and returned her assault with one of his own.

Revan punched the woman clear in the jaw. The sheer force of the blow pushed her backwards but she didn't lose focus. Before he could retract his arm, Jack grabbed onto his wrist, pivoted her foot, and used his own weight to throw him over her shoulder. Revan slammed down onto the ground and rolled a few feet away. This gave the convicted serial killer and opening. With a loud grunt, she quickly gathered as much dark energy as she could muster and hurled it at him with all the force of her mind and body. Revan looked up just in time for it to collide with him face first.

Jack's cerulean warp field ripped down the hallway, prying up the floor plating and crushing the walls. Revan flew through the very center of it. The pressure around his body magnified exponentially. Were it not for his ability to shield himself through the Force, the mass effect field would have crushed him utterly and completely. When it finally dropped him, the blast continued down the hall even further. It hit the end of the corridor and kept on going, ripping the steel frame apart and bursting into the next room.

A little shaken by the experience, the Dark Lord slowly pulled himself to his feet. Jack's eyes went wide as he did. Involuntarily, she took a step backwards. Revan chuckled as he pulled himself up and rolled his neck, cracking it as he did. "Well that was impressive," he said earnestly. "You've answered my question. Let's get the hell off this ship."

"What?" she stuttered. "I'm not going anywhere with you?"

"This station is offline. How long do you think it is before life support gives out? You need a way off of this hole."

"I'm not done ripping you apart yet," she sneered as she took a menacing step towards him to compensate for her previous moment of weakness.

"If you've got something bigger than that last attack, by all means, kill me," he said as he put his arms out to the sides, leaving himself completely open. "If not, I suggest you come with me."

"Why did you come here for me?"

"It wasn't my decision. The people I'm with came here to recruit you. The people who run this place stabbed them in the back. I'm just finishing the job while they tie up some loose ends."

"Recruit me for what?"

"I'll let the commander fill you in. For now, let's get back to my ship."

Jack hesitated for a moment. Groaning, she knew that he was right. She wouldn't last long without a way off this ship. If things went south, she could always assume control of the vessel and break off. It had worked in the past. If this bastard was going to use her, she was going to use him.

"Fine. Let's get the fuck out of here," she snorted. "Lead the way."

Revan started back the way that he came with Jack close behind him. He activated the comm system that Miranda had given him earlier and opened a channel to her.

"Revan to Miranda, can you hear me?"

After a burst of static, a clear human voice came through. "This is Miranda. Go ahead, Revan."

"I've found Jack," he replied. "I'll bring her back to the Normandy. Have you found Shepard and the others?"

"I've been following you," she admitted to him. "But I've locked onto their bio-signs. I'll head to them now."

"Good," Revan said simply. "Over and out."

"Good," she heard Revan say from the comm bud in her ear. "Over and out."

Miranda brought her wrist up so that she could see it and activated her omni-tool. The holographic interface brought up a schematic of the space station and showed where her allies were in relation to her current position. She disengaged the device and started down the corridors towards them. By now, most of the convicts, guards, and security mechs that she came across were already dead, though she did have to put down one knife wielding psychopath named Billy near the warden's position.

When Miranda finally reached the generator room where Kuril had cornered himself, she saw the state of things instantly. Jacob had been injured and was taking cover behind one of the six pylons in the room. Garrus had taken cover beneath a staircase. Shepard appeared to be unconscious behind a second pylon. And then Kuril had sealed himself behind a barrier.

"Jacob!" she shouted as she ran into the room.

"Get Shepard!" he ordered, taking in her sudden presence quickly. The injured soldier stumbled out of his cover zone and opened fire on the warden with his pistol. As he shot, he limped over to Garrus's position and moved to safety.

Miranda was able to quickly dive between pylons, avoiding Kuril's shots and returning fire in short contained bursts. With speed most humans couldn't achieve, the genetically engineered woman grabbed her commander and pulled him from his cover position towards the others.

Knowing that the human woman made an easy target, Garrus dove from his position and moved to stand between her and the warden. While he didn't fancy the idea of sustaining another crippling and deforming injury as he had on Omega, his shields and armor provided better protection than her thin jumpsuit. The Turian fired several more shots at the Blue Sun in an attempt to distract him. As Miranda dragged the downed former Spectre, the former C-sec agent took two shots aimed at her. His shields took most of the brunt but he had a feeling that there would be two painful bruises in the morning.

His risky selfless act was exactly what Miranda needed to pull Shepard safely away from the pylon and behind the safe cover of the stairs. Once everyone was clear, Jacob activated his detonation device. All six of the bombs in the room detonated, causing a large explosion throughout the room. The three conscious teammates all heard the sound of Kuril's barrier going down and the nervous shocked cry of the startled warden.

"Open fire!" Miranda ordered.

All three simultaneously did so. Miranda's SMG, Jacob's pistol, and Garrus's sniper rifle all tore through the commander's armor and ripped into his flesh. His death cry rattled to a sputter and finally ceased altogether. When the smoke from the explosion had cleared away enough to be sure that their target had indeed fallen, Miranda turned her attention to her two comrades.

"What happened?" she demanded of Jacob.

"The commander wasn't doing too well in the fight. Passed out when things got tense. No injuries though."

"Damn it," the Cerberus operative swore as she pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes and continued to examine him. "Alright, Garrus, can you carry him?" The Turian nodded. "Good. Jacob and I will cover you but I don't think too many people are still alive here. Let's get him back to the Normandy.

"Right," Garrus confirmed as he hoisted the unconscious soldier up and over his shoulder.

With that, they started back towards the Normandy.


	6. Chapter 6

**From Across the Galaxies  
Chapter VI: What a Mess**

Cerberus Operative Miranda Lawson swore as she tossed a datapad onto her desk, having finished reading its bleak contents. The mission in the Purgatory space station had not gone well and that was putting it very lightly. The Warden had betrayed them, tried to take Shepard hostage so that he could be sold into slavery, and the escape attempt had ended with the Normandy's commanding officer in a comatose state. The only consolation that she could take from what had happened was that their objective had been met. Subject Zero had been brought aboard the ship. Whether or not that could be considered a good thing remained to be seen. For once, Miranda felt glad to have Revan as a part of the team. He was below deck on the engineering level, keeping Jack in check. The "psychotic biotic," as Joker had nicknamed her, had been raging ever since leaving the Purgatory. Apparently, the woman had some issues with Cerberus and being a part of one of their black ops teams didn't suit her particularly well.

Everything that had happened made Miranda the senior most officer aboard the Normandy. She had to take on the role of acting captain, in addition to all of her other duties. Moreover, the Illusive Man had already contacted her regarding the failure. Apparently several Cerberus backers also had stocks in the prison space station and he was feeling repercussions for its loss. He had chastised her severely for letting things get so out of control and had threatened to have her replaced with another operative if she couldn't handle her obligations. The conversation had rattled her to say the least. Disgraced agents were rarely simply reassigned. Anyone with internal secrets who failed to perform within expectations disappeared. There wouldn't be any trace or track to follow. The galaxy would wake up one morning and that person would be gone. The idea did not seem appealing to her.

With that unpleasant thought, Miranda stood up and crossed to the door of her office. It slid open for her as she approached and it was just a short walk across the mess hall before she reached the medical bay. Inside, Dr. Karin Chakwas stood over a medical bed where the unconscious Commander Shepard slept. His N7 grade red accented black armor had been stripped away and piled up on a dormant medical probe's table. The good doctor had connected an intro-veinous tube to his forearm and currently moved up and down the length of his body, her omni-tool taking medical scans as she went. Miranda came to stand beside her.

"What have you found out?" she inquired as she crossed her arms.

"It's his biotic implant," Chakwas replied. "Something is wrong with it."

"His implant?" Miranda repeated. "That's not possible. I repaired his unit myself."

Dr. Chakwas turned her head to look at Miranda. "Clearly, you didn't do a very good job," she replied bitterly. "It's shorting out. It's been giving off small electrical discharges every few minutes."

"Alliance research encountered that problem years ago. The discharges were deemed benign to the human brain."

Dr. Chakwas scoffed and moved towards her laptop. She keyed in a few commands and then did the same with the holographic interface of her omni-tool. The more sophisticated computer began to download the scans from her wrist mounted device. A moment later, when it had finished, the Alliance medical officer turned to face her superior completely. "To the human brain, yes, it's benign. You probably live with similar discharges from your implant from time to time. You also don't have cybernetic implants rooted to your central nervous system. The implant is damaging the synthetic material that you put in his head to keep him alive. That L3 needs to be removed!"

Her tone nearly reached a shout as she spoke. Miranda raised an eyebrow, which promptly informed the medical officer that she had crossed a line. The ship's XO turned her gaze to the unconscious man on the medical bed. "How long before you can remove the implant?" she asked, changing the subject to what needed to be done.

"Remove it here? This facility was designed for short term care. A procedure like this needs to be done in a hospital; someplace that is well staffed and not in danger of hitting gravity patches in space!"

"We don't have a choice," Miranda countered. "We can't afford the delay in our mission and we can't trust any of the nearby medical facilities."

"This isn't a sterilized operating room!" the doctor retorted.

"EDI?" Miranda asked, turning to the ship's holoprojector.

The device activated and the blue holographic sphere popped up. "I agree with Dr. Chakwas," the artificial intelligence stated. "This medical bay is not ideal for such an operation. However, I could change the artificial atmosphere in this room to compensate. By bringing the temperature down approximately six degrees and changing the composition of the air in the room, I can make it more hostile to certain forms of bacteria while keeping it habitable to Commander Shepard and a medical team."

"And what about the gravity? It would be deadly to perform brain surgery at faster than light travel!"

"We'll put the ship down on Korlus. Someplace remote. The ground team will take the Kodiak shuttle to the Blue Sun's base where Warlord Okeer is being held. Meanwhile, you and I can go in and remove the L3 implant."

"Are you insane?" Chakwas exclaimed, literally taking a step back in shock at what she had just heard. "You want me to operate on a hostile planet?"

"There are various areas across Korlus that aren't controlled by hostile forces, Doctor," EDI chirped in. "Various recycling and star ship retirement yards are scattered across the planet. Furthermore, there are several land masses capable of supporting the Normandy that are completely uninhabited."

Dr. Chakwas bit her lip. "I don't agree with this," she muttered as she turned back to her laptop.

"It doesn't matter," Miranda stated as she started for the door. "It's an order."

With that, the Cerberus agent departed the medical bay, leaving the disgruntled doctor alone with her thoughts. Dr. Chakwas glanced over at Shepard and closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she whispered to him.

"Asshole!" Jack screamed as she used a biotic field to hurl a fire extinguisher towards Revan. The deposed Sith Lord simply side stepped the attack and crossed his arms. Jack marched right up to him and jammed her finger into the chest piece of his armor. "Let me off this Cerberus hellhole right now!" she ordered.

"We're in space," he reminded her dully. "Where would you like us to let you out? The airlock?"

"Pull this ship over and let me off!" she screamed.

"Calm down!" he bellowed back at her.

The force of his voice did little to relax her and Jack simply let out a feral growl as she turned around and tossed another large piece of equipment aside with her biotic field. "God damn you! You tricked me into coming onto a Cerberus ship!"

"I did no such thing," he replied calmly as he moved to lean against the stairwell to upper engineering. "I wasn't lying when I said you wouldn't get off of the Purgatory alive without this ship. Besides, how was I supposed to know that you have issues with Cerberus?"

"How were you supposed to know?" she repeated angrily. "Go screw yourself. You work for them and you just happened to want me on your little dream team? I'm not an idiot!"

"Well I don't work for them," Revan pointed out. "I've spent the last two years in cryo. They only brought me out a few days ago. I don't know who you are or what you past is. I don't care."

Jack's eyes narrowed and she ran a hand over her shaved head, a habit from back when she had hair. "Then what is your stake in this? Why are you helping Cerberus?"

"Their resources brought me out of stasis," he answered with a shrug. "Until I can gather a few of my own, they'll keep me safe from the Alliance. I'm wanted for the murder of a Salarian science team."

For some reason, this seemed to relax Jack. She calmed down a bit, or at the very least stopped hurling objects about, and stopped to listen. "Salarian science team, huh? How'd that go?"

"I'm standing here," he answered mildly. "They're not."

"You shouldn't be too proud of that."

Both Jack and Revan glanced up the stairwell in time to see Miranda coming down towards them. She stopped between the two and turned her attention to the ship's newest recruit. "How are you settling in?" she asked.

Jack snarled and turned away. "Fuck off you petty little Cerberus cheerleader," she snapped.

Miranda turned to Revan, who raised his eyebrow at the comment. "Apparently she has issues with your team," he told her.

The Cerberus operative turned back to the heavily tattooed woman and gave her a questioning glance. "What's this about?" she bid her.

Jack's temper started to flare again. She stepped towards Miranda, a soft blue aura starting to form around her, and growled. "Cerberus held me captive for years, you dumb bitch! Experimented on me. Shoved needles in my eyes and asked if it hurt. You tell me how I should feel?"

"If anyone in Cerberus performed those sorts of experiments, it wasn't authorized. It was a splinter cell. We work to help humanity. We don't torture people."

Before Jack could retort with any more expletives, Revan crossed to put himself between the two. "I think what matters here is that someone in Cerberus did torture her. I've been tortured before, Miranda. I don't typically care if it was allowed or not." He turned his attention to Jack. "Look, you're a tough woman. I think this team will probably need you before this mission is over. Rather than wasting time and resources letting you kill our acting commanding officer, why don't we cut to the heart of the matter. What do you want in exchange for your loyalty on this mission and cooperation on this ship?"

Jack didn't answer for a moment. She looked down and contemplated her feet before beginning to pace the lower engineering deck. She looked back at Revan and then to Miranda. Her face contorted into a scowl. "I want everything that Cerberus has on me," she stated, looking the other woman right in the eyes.

"What?"

"You heard me. I want every file from every Cerberus database that mentions my name or any name I've used since escaping your facility. Every news article you've collected. Every note that your scientists have. Every God damned thing!"

"Absolutely not!" the Cerberus operative responded quickly. "I don't have authorization to release that sort of information."

The soft aura around her intensified and the biotic took an intimidating step towards Miranda. While tempted to step aside and simply let Jack have her way with the idiotic agent who couldn't tell that she was staring death in the face and poking it with a sharp stick, Revan kept himself firmly planted between the two woman and shook his head at the shorter one.

"Move!" Jack shouted.

The former Lord of the Sith glanced over his shoulder and met his superior's gaze. "I would really recommend that you release those files to her," he told her calmly. "Diplomacy is half of leadership."

"I'll put in a request with the Illusive Man," she offered. "Anything he authorizes, you can have."

Immediately, Revan turned back to Jack. "It's the best deal that's on the table. Unless you want to end up with nothing or in the airlock, I recommend taking it."

The young woman groaned but nodded. "Fine," she sneered at the other two. "Now leave me alone."

Jack took a seat on a stray toolbox and rested her chin on her fist. Not bothering to argue, Revan started up the stairs, followed closely by Miranda. "Thank you," she told him as soon as they had reached the elevator and she was relatively certain that they were out of earshot.

"Deck five," Revan told the elevator as the doors closed. "You're welcome," he responded as he leaned back against the door. "What's the next mission?"

"Another recruitment run," she told him, a little nervousness creeping into her tone. They were trapped together in an enclosed space. The last time that they had been together hadn't gone well and the idea of a repeat of that experience made her blood run cold.

Revan could sense her discomfort and waved it off with his hand. "Relax. You're not as incompetent as I thought."

The door opened into the cargo bay, allowing the two to step off. Revan walked over to the small setup that had made for himself and took a seat on his footlocker. Miranda followed, ignoring the offensive comment. "There's a Krogan warlord on Korlus that we're hoping to recruit. He's one of the oldest alive and still going strong."

"Krogan," he repeated. "I'm not familiar with their species."

"I'll send some data down for you," she offered.

"It would be appreciated."

Miranda nodded. "Commander Shepard needs invasive surgery," the acting commanding officer explained. "He won't be up to lead the ground in time and I'll be working with Dr. Chakwas."

"You want me to lead the strike force?" he guessed as he turned his eyes up on her.

"Yes," Miranda replied. He nodded. "I want you to take Jack and Garrus. Jacob will stay here an act as security officer while I'm indisposed."

"What kind of resistance are we looking at?" Revan's tone had suddenly become serious. He was interested in the mission. This was the first time since Coruscant that he was being put into a position of authority but the old mentality came back immediately. In the short moment since Miranda had said that the Turian and Cerberus soldier would be joining him, he had already started calculating their strengths and weaknesses and how the three would balance out as a team. He saw that working well. Jacob had a fair amount of military training, which meant that the two would coordinate together very well. The man actually kind of reminded the Dark Lord of Carth Onasi. While they had worked together, the pair had formed a deadly team. The only reason that Revan had been able to escape the Sith occupied world of Taris while his mind was still damaged by the Jedi Council's mind wipe was because of the now dead Republic soldier.

Garrus on the other hand had combat smarts that the military didn't teach. His style wasn't bound by honor or a code of ethics. He fought to survive. Some organized style, most likely beaten into him by his days at C-sec, was apparent but his more recent time spent on Omega seemed to have hardened him. He reminded Revan of his former Mandalorian Neo-Crusader ally, Canderous Ordo. It was odd having two people so similar to his old task force squad mates working with him. He vaguely remembered an argument that Canderous and Carth had once had about soldiers and warriors. The same principal could be applied to his current situation. Jacob, unlike Carth however, understood the need for both. He wasn't quite so idealistic, which probably had something to do with why Revan liked him a great deal more than the late Republic soldier.

"The Blue Suns control that world. They're a mercenary group with outposts and bases across the Terminus Systems," Miranda spoke in response to his previous question. "A few of their men were aboard the Purgatory. You may have... encountered one or two."

"Can't say that I'm particularly worried about that," he stated casually.

"Don't get anyone on our side killed," she rebuked him. "We really can't afford to lose another soldier here."

"Understood," he replied with a mock salute at his superior officer.

Miranda turned to leave, giving Revan an opportunity to role his eyes at her. The attractive woman stepped into the elevator and then she was gone. The Dark Lord then turned to his small cache of possessions and tried to decide what he should do next. He didn't exactly have an estimated time of arrival on how long it would be before the Normandy reached Korlus and there weren't any schematics to go over before the infiltration mission. All in all, he didn't have much prep work to do. He glanced down at the armored hard suit that he wore and eyed it with distaste. It had been inefficient aboard the Purgatory. It limited movement and the weight made it cumbersome. He wondered idly if he could do anything to modify it to remove such problems, though he didn't see how right away. The design seemed fairly simplistic, which meant that without adding components that he didn't currently have, there probably weren't many options.

He sighed and drew the M-4 Shuriken submachine gun that Jacob had requisitioned for him the previous day. This weapon, on the other hand, he could work on. He began by ejecting the thermal clip, placing the small shell on the floor beside him and then proceeded to open the barrel. Looking inside, he saw a small device that he didn't recognize. Curling his lip in fascination, the former Sith Lord touched it, trying to understand the mechanics before him.

* * *

Half way across the galaxy, Operation's Chief Ashley Williams wasn't happy. The young woman sat in an Alliance Kodiak shuttle, legs crossed and arms folded over her chest. Her tongue clicked impatiently as shifted uncomfortably in her military dress uniform. The navy blue two piece suit itched terribly and she had never been one for formality. The very fact that she was wearing a skirt and stockings might have merited a celebration if she hadn't gotten the impression that something was very wrong when Councilor Anderson had ordered her transfer off of Horizon. Not only had the message been heavily encrypted, the very fact that he had pulled her from the colony suggested bad news. Her promotion to Operation's Chief had been a necessity so that she could lead the small Alliance force that had been assigned to protecting the civilians there. Why would they pull her out after putting so much work into getting her that job?

Eventually, the shuttle reached an exterior landing pad on the Presidium Embassies aboard the Citadel. The hatch popped open and she stepped out. Two C-sec officers, both rather nondescript looking human, approached her as she exited. They saluted her as she approached, which she returned politely.

"Ma'am," they said in unison as she stopped before them.

"Councilor Anderson is waiting for you inside," the one to her left stated.

"Lead the way," she acknowledged with a nod.

The two soldiers turned and silently started towards the door. They led Ashley into the building and navigated several corridors before reaching Anderson's office, which stood directly opposite his assistant's office. The two C-Sec officers took their place outside the door and beckoned their charge to enter. The soldier did so and found herself in a spacious office with a beautiful view of the Presidium. Councilor Anderson sat behind his desk, going over paperwork. He glanced up as Ashley approached and a smile broke out across his lips.

"Chief!" he exclaimed as he stood up and rounded his own desk, pulling the young woman into a hug. They broke it off a moment later and Anderson gestured for Ashley to follow him towards the balcony. She did as told and the two rested there, looking out at the beautiful view that stretched out before them. The great artificial river that coursed through the Presidium flowed softly at an easy pace. Men and women of all species went about their business like normal. It was hard to believe that the last time that she had been on the Citadel, it had still been in ruin from the Geth attack. The repair crews and the Keepers had done a marvelous job getting things back to normal. The flip side, of course, was that the damage and destruction of the war seemed behind them. Nobody wanted to believe that the worst may have still been to come. She shook her head as she looked out at the people.

"I know what you're thinking," Anderson cut into her thoughts. "I think it too every time I'm up here. The fools!"

"You can't really blame them," she responded. "It's what people do."

"I suppose," he muttered, more to himself than to her. "In any case, some of us have to be smarter about it. That's why you're here."

"Councilor," Ashley began.

"Bah!" he snorted as he waved the title away with his hand. "It's me, Williams."

"Anderson," she started again. "I need to ask you something. It's... I've heard a rumor."

"That's part of why you're here," he replied. The dark skinned man turned to his friend and nodded. "It's true, Ashley. Shepard is alive."

The impact his words hit her with the force of a physical blow. She couldn't speak for a few moments. Ashley turned away from him, stepping towards the door. She rested the palms of her hands on his desk, somewhat inappropriately, and ran a hand through her dark hair. At first, she shook her head. Upon first hearing the very whisper that her commander might have been alive, the operation's chief had refused to believe them; refused to let her hopes get up. It had been two words without any word. His body had never been recovered. Most had assumed that it had completely burned away in the atmosphere. The old Normandy crew had grieved and in time, they had all accepted it. John Shepard had died.

Now this? How could he have been alive all this time? Why wouldn't he have contacted her? Damn the secrets of being a Spectre. They had shared something. It had been real. He wouldn't have just thrown that away over another mission and they could have fought the Reapers together. She would have been there for him. He had to have known that.

"Damn it!" she swore, beating her fist against the desk. "Damn it!"

"It's not what you think, Chief," Anderson said as he put a hand on her shoulder.

Ashley turned and batted his hand away. "Did you know about this?" she demanded, venom seeping into her tone as she fought to hold back the tears that were stinging her eyes.

"Not until he showed up here about a week ago. Same as you. I heard rumors. I didn't want to believe it. But it's true. I've seen him."

"Don't lie to me, Anderson!"

"Ashley, I'm not!" he swore as he put both hands on her shoulders. "I need you to focus. He's different. He's not the man that we knew! He's fighting the Reapers and if he's not careful, he's going to get us all killed!"

Again, she broke away from him, though this time she put the desk between them. "What do you mean?" she urged him.

Anderson paused for a moment. He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a datapad. Looking down at it, he began to speak. "What I am about to tell you goes way beyond classified. If word gets out, humanity could lose everything. Our seat on the Council. Our embassy on the Citadel. Any aid we have from the other races out there. Everything. Do you understand?" He met her eyes, which hardened. She nodded her response and he continued. "Two years ago, the council launched an investigation into Shepard's report about the Reapers. We locked down Ilos and a Salarian research group was sent to recover the VI known as Vigil."

"We were told that they didn't find anything," the woman interjected.

"They didn't find anything that could convince the Council of the existence of the Reapers, it's true. Vigil had gone offline by the time the Salarians got there and the Conduit didn't do anything. But they did find someone there. One man was found on Ilos. A human." He stopped long enough to take his seat and look up at his old friend. "The Salarians brought him aboard their ship and tried to treat his injuries. When he woke up, he attacked them. More than a hundred Salarians died trying to subdue him. The council ordered that he be executed and that's where the report ends."

"But," she urged him to continue.

"But that man was the only evidence that Saren and the Geth weren't behind the attack on the Citadel! I couldn't lose that. I ordered him to be put into stasis and hid him from the rest of the council. Nobody knew any better."

"He's loose?" Ashley guessed.

"Not quite. About a week ago, I got reports that a ship with the registry name 'Normandy' had docked here on the Citadel. Sure enough, John was in my office an hour later. He's working for Cerberus."

"Cerberus!" the soldier repeated, a shocked expression dotting her facial features. "Bullshit!"

"From what I can piece together from our sources on Illium, an information broker managed to find Shepard's body on Alchera. She sold his body to Cerberus, believing that they could bring him back to life. Believe it or not, it looks like they succeeded. He works for them now."

Ashley shook her head again. "Then that isn't him. They're controlling him or something! The man I knew wouldn't work with terrorists."

"It's a possibility. And it's why I called you here, Ash," the councilor stated. "Cerberus knew about the man from Ilos. Revan is his name. Claims he's from some other galaxy or something. I don't know. In any event, Cerberus knew. Shepard showed up and demanded that I hand him over. He's putting together some sort of a team to fight the Reapers and he took that psychopath with him."

"Shepard's putting together a team?"

"He asked about you," Anderson admitted. "Wanted everyone from the old team back."

"And what did you tell him?"

"The truth. Your mission on Horizon was classified and I told him as much. But I can't leave it at that. I can't risk whatever Cerberus is planning. That's why I need you!" His voice had practically reached a shout by the time he finished his sentence. His breathing was heavy for a moment before he looked back at his friend and held out the datapad that he had pulled from his desk.

She took it and skimmed the contents for a moment. As she did, her face warped from curiosity, to compelled interest, and finally disbelief. When she had finished, she looked back up, her eyes probing Anderson's face for any sign that this all might have been some great big joke at her expense. No such sign existed.

"Spectre status?" she asked him.

Anderson nodded. "I brought my concerns before the Council after he left. I didn't include a few choice details of course but they shared my worries. If you accept, you'll be granted all of the resources and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance force."

"I-I..." She was dumbfounded. "I'm not sure what to say."

"It's a lot to ask," he confessed. "I know that it is. But I can't trust anyone else, Williams."

She nodded her understanding. It took several seconds before she could speak but at last, she smiled. It was a real and true smile. Her family had a history of military service. The very idea of being asked to join the Spectres was an honor. She could see the look on her grandfather's face at the notion of a Williams joining the prestigious ranks of the galaxy's finest men and women. For the minute, she was able to forget about Shepard and Cerberus and the Reapers. She thought only of herself and the entire Williams family.

"Yes," she said, putting her thumb on the bottom of the datapad and applying her bioprint. "Of course."


	7. Chapter 7

**From Across the Galaxies  
Chapter VII: The Spectre**

Being a Spectre had its perks. At least, that's what Ashley Williams had decided only two days after having earned the rank for herself. When Commander Shepard had been instated, it had been a bittersweet experience. His mission began almost immediately and his friend and mentor, then Captain David Anderson, had lost his position as commanding officer of the SSV Normandy as a result. The first human Spectre had felt guilty for costing the now councilor his job, which was coupled with the overwhelming responsibility of setting out to find Saren and save all of humanity from the Geth. Ashley's inauguration had been very different. Currently, the Council didn't have a location on her target, who incidentally, happened to be Commander Shepard. Thus, she had been given some time to kick back and settle into her new position of authority.

The Council had given her a luxury apartment on the Presidium, which was where she currently sat. After bunking in the crew quarters of the Normandy and in cramped, shared barracks in various military outposts, having so much space to herself came as a bit of a culture shock. The lodgings were probably larger than the house that she had grown up in with her mother and three sisters. She could only imagine the look on their faces if they could see her bedroom. The apartment consisted of a spacious living room that came fully furnished with very comfortable leather lounge chairs, a matching sofa, and a glass top coffee table. All of these faced a large entertainment system and computer terminal, both of which had gone ignored since she had moved in. The kitchenette, as it had been described to her by an Asari tour guide, dwarfed the kitchen that she had cooked in as a child. On the far left side from the entrance stood the door to her bedroom, which sported a walk-in closet, a large dresser, a kind sized bed, and night tables on either side. The young woman contemplated fondly on how she could get accustomed to such treatment.

More importantly, though, Admiral Steven Hackett had paid her a visit. The Alliance Navy had seen fit to issue her a promotion, feeling that her new status as a Spectre merited a higher pay grade than operation's chief. As such, she was now known as Lieutenant Ashley Williams, which made her the first Williams to become a commissioned officer since General Kurtis Williams had surrendered to the Turians during the First Contact War. She had finally broken the old curse on her family. Upon receiving her first paycheck with an officer's pay on it and the stipend granted by the Council for all Spectres, the second human Spectre nearly fell out of her chair. Her monthly income had more than tripled in the course of just a few days.

Ashley had wasted no time putting her new wages to good use though. As soon as as new Normandy was spotted, she knew she'd be off and chasing Shepard's tail immediately. The fact that she had been given any downtime before her mission actually seemed like a rare grace in life. She wouldn't squander it. A trip down to the Spectre requisition's office had proved most fruitful. The first thing that she had procured had been a full set of armor that had been manufactured by Armax Arsenal. Unlike most of the generic suits, however, this set consisted of various pieces rather than one whole body garment. The breastplate, greaves, arm guards, and shoulder plates all came as separate elements which were attached over a form fitting black bodysuit. She had specifically selected the Armax units due to their extra bulk and protective layering. The pieces themselves had all been painted a dark gray color, with almost teal accents along the edges. As a mild statement of vanity, she had even gone so far as to have the Spectre insignia emblazoned on the upper chest on the left hand side.

In addition to the armor, she had requisitioned a new set of firearms for use in the field. During basic training, many years previously, she had been certified as advanced in the use of assault and sniper rifles. Since then, she'd stuck to using those two types of weapons when at all possible. As such, those had been the first two weapons that she'd paid to replace. The new automatic assault rifle, produced by Kassa Fabrications, was prototype M-96 Mattock. While it was heavier than the Alliance grade weapons that she had grown accustomed to using, the large gun more than made up for it in fire power. The particles fired off by the mass accelerator inside were nearly four times the size of those fired by the M-8 Avenger, meaning that slugs hit harder and did more tissue damage upon impact. The sniper-rifle, on the other hand, sacrificed brute strength for speed. She had taken a liking to the semi-automatic M-97 Viper. Developed by the Turians, it was capable of firing at a rapid rate with pinpoint accuracy from across a distance of nearly half a mile. It would be deadly if she ever needed to take out a target from across a great distance. Last, but certainly not least, she had bought a simple M-5 Phalanx heavy pistol as a hold out weapon. Her basic training insisted that all soldiers keep a sidearm on hand at all times as a hold out weapon. It could be the difference between life and death. The Phalanx had a pretty standard firing rate but also benefited from a sapphire laser sight which could be turned on or off with a simple finger sweep. As an added precaution, she had made a bulk order purchase of fragmentation grenades from an arms dealer in the Wards. Overall, the newly instated Spectre felt that she had cobbled together a fairly deadly little arsenal for herself.

Ashley sat on the sofa of her new apartment, cleaning the barrel of her new pistol when a soft chirping sound went off, indicating that someone was at the door. She set down the weapon and stood up, crossing towards the entrance. She pressed her hand against the pad to her left and the door slid open sleekly. Standing there was none other than the Asari Citadel Councilor, Tevos. Ashley was taken aback by this unannounced visit but did not object. She simply stood back, bidding the other woman enter.

"Hello Ma'am," she said reverently whilst backing aside and gesticulating for the woman to enter. "Please, come in." The violet skinned alien did so, glancing around at the undecorated space around her with a nod. "Can I get you anything?" Ashley inquired. "Tea?"

"No thank you," the councilor responded as she continued to inspect the room for a moment before turning to face her newest Spectre. "Don't be nervous, Ashely. I like to meet all of the Spectres personally."

"We've met before, Ma'am," the younger woman replied before thinking to stop herself. She immediately caught her mistake and straightened up uncomfortably. "Sorry."

Tevos chuckled softly and shook her head. "Not at all. You helped save the Destiny Ascension while I was still aboard it. I owe you my life."

"Thank you, Ma'am," the significantly younger woman replied, relaxing a little bit. "Is there something that I can do for you?"

The Asari crossed her arms and gazed at Ashley. For an uncomfortable period of time, she simply stared her up and down, sizing her up it would seem. The newly appointed Spectre shifted awkwardly under such scrutiny but didn't say a word. Finally, Tevos nodded. "You seem like a strong woman, Lieutenant."

"Thank you," she repeated.

"I know about your history with Commander Shepard," the councilor stated plainly.

Ashley bit her lip before saying anything in response. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she tried to come up with something appropriate to answer but nothing occurred to her. Finally, she managed to utter a simple, "Oh?"

Tevos nodded as she crossed to Ashley's window and looked out onto the Presidium. The Asari crossed her hands and chuckled softly. "The other three councilors all felt that it wouldn't impact your work."

"It won't," the Spectre tried to assure her new boss.

Tevos smirked. "Well that remains to be seen," she answered with a look that rudely implied that she didn't agree. "I'm over eight hundred years old. I've had more than a few... partners in my day. I've loved them each dearly and I miss all of them. But none of them ever came before the greater good of the Asari or the Council."

"I can do my job without letting my feelings get in the way," Ashley insisted.

"Really?" Tevos returned, her brow raised in skepticism. "If it really came down to it, you believe that you could kill Commander Shepard?"

The new Spectre's eyes narrowed and her face hardened. Clenching both her fists, she scoffed at the very statement. "Councilor," she began, her voice tough as the hide of a Korgan warlord. "As far as I'm concerned, John Shepard is already dead."

* * *

Darth Revan stepped out of the Normandy's elevator and into the main section of the CIC. Standing directly in front of the holographic map interface was acting commanding officer Miranda Lawson. In addition to the usual Cerberus crewmen and Yeoman Chambers, who occupied positions around the device, Garrus, Jack, and Jacob had all surrounded it as well. The former Sith Lord couldn't help but smirk. The whole team had gathered. He strolled lazily up to the terminal to the left of the elevated position in front of the elevator and looked up at Miranda.

"Yes?" he inquired lazily in response to the summons that he had received down in the hangar about five minutes previously.

"We've broken atmosphere into Korlus," she explained, her tone clearly conveying agitation towards his attitude. "Welcome to your first official mission briefing." She turned to the Cerberus garbed red headed woman beside her. "Yeoman Chambers?"

The slightly younger woman looked up from her console and nodded. She looked about as she typed something. The galaxy map vanished and the projectors quickly replaced it with a large spherical shape. Given the distant landmass shapes and atmospheric shading, everyone quickly gathered that it was a planet; Korlus to be more specific. Kelly tapped a key on her board and the image zoomed in on a specific section. A red dot appeared and began to blink softly.

Before speaking, Kelly cleared her throat deeply. "Alright," she began, a bit of nervousness seeping into her tone. "This is the Kaibur Recycling plant on the southern continent, Omnigal. It's one of the largest facilities of its kind in the galaxy. It is responsible for the reuse of nearly fourteen percent of the steel in the galaxy. Unfortunately, it shut down about three months ago. Council intel hasn't been able to find out why."

"But Cerberus has?" Jacob asked from across the room, obscured slightly by the hologram in front of him.

"Yes," Kelly confirmed with a nod. "Our agents within the Blue Suns discovered that they took control of the plant."

"Why?" the former Alliance marine inquired. "An ecofriendly image doesn't seem high on a mercenary group's priority list."

"Our target," Miranda interjected as she activated her omni-tool. The planet faded out and a picture of a burly Krogan dressed in black battle armor popped up. Everyone looked a little disgusted. The creature's skin appeared to be a sickly mustard yellow color while his forehead and ridges were a deep brown. The skin around his eyes had discolored, giving them a black appearance. The photo made it difficult to tell, but he appeared larger than the other Krogan that most of the people in the room had seen.

"Wrex would love this," Garrus commented mildly to himself.

"Warlord Okeer is inside of the Kaibur facility. According to our infiltrators, he was working with the Blue Suns. About two days ago, the situation changed," Kelly continued. "We have reports that he's barricaded himself inside of a makeshift lab at the far end of the facility. The Suns have been trying to get to him ever since but haven't been having much luck. Unfortunately, our intelligence ends there. We think our operatives may have been killed."

"Do we think that they were discovered?" Jacob asked.

"Not at this time," Kelly commented. "If a fight broke out between the mercs and a Krogan warlord, a few casualties isn't unexpected."

"Here's the plan," Miranda continued from the top of the room. "The Normandy will dock on an island here," she said as the planet reappeared on the projector and a simulation of the Normandy flying towards it activated. "It's only about a mile and a half wide and it's uninhabited. We'll be able to safely treat Shepard there. Meanwhile, the shuttle will take Revan, Jacob, and Garrus to the facility. Find Okeer. Bring him in."

"Blue Suns ain't easy," Jacob muttered as he pondered to himself.

"To you," Jack sneered from her corner of the galaxy map. "Why the hell ain't I going in?" She looked directly at Miranda, her eyes demanding an answer.

"You're a lunatic," the Cerberus operative answered as if it were an obvious statement of fact to everyone in the room. "This is a diplomatic mission. When we need a few mechs smashed, I'll let you know."

"Go to hell, Princess!" the younger woman snarled as she took a threatening step forward. "I agreed to help you. If you think that means that I'm just going to sit on this ship with my thumb up my ass, you've got another thing coming!"

"Jacob's already pointed out that the Blue Suns can be tricky," Revan interjected before any violence could ensue. "Jack could be useful and she'll be under my supervision."

Miranda looked from the psychotic biotic to the psychotic Sith Lord. She exhaled deeply and shook her head. She just knew that she was going to regret the decision. She glanced to Jacob, who gave her a reassuring nod. "Alright," she muttered bitterly. "Anything goes wrong and you pull her out," she ordered Revan.

The former Sith Lord nodded, though he knew for certain that he wouldn't be following that particular order. Jack was a volatile woman; a ticking time bomb of power. Revan had nothing but curiosity about her. He wanted to see what would happen if he turned her loose on the facility. How many people could she kill before getting herself killed? He thought back to his time as the Dark Lord and idly considered how valuable the bald woman would have been to his war effort in the Republic. Her biotic skills matched the Force strength of several of his strongest Dark Jedi. Hell, she might have even given Bastila a run for her money. Pulling her out of a hot situation didn't seem like any fun at all.

His thought was interrupted as EDI's spherical shape popped up in the middle of the map interface. "Ms. Lawson," the AI spoke softly. "We are nearing the island that you specified."

"Good," she replied. "The four of you," she specified, indicating Revan, Garrus, Jacob, and Jack. "Get down to the hangar. The shuttle launches in five minutes."

"Yes ma'am," Jacob answered with a soldier's amount of bravado.

As the Normandy SR-2 broke atmosphere above Korlus, the hangar bay slid open and the Cerberus grade Kodiak shuttle within spat out, speeding down towards the Kaibur Recycling Facility where the Krogan Warlord known as Okeer and the Blue Suns had set up their operations. With Darth Revan at the helm, the shuttle split off from the larger space vessel and smoothly sailed down towards its destination. The Dark Lord kept his eyes on the instruments before him, his senses attuned for any signs of danger or even movement. He didn't want the mercenaries to have even the slightest advantage when the strike team moved in. Jacob Taylor came up beside him and pointed towards an open gap in the facility.

"There," the soldier stated firmly. "We can put down there."

Revan nodded. He turned the wheel down softly, causing the Kodiak to bank downwards towards the clearing. As the small craft got closer and closer to the ground, the Sith Lord began to detect faint signatures of anger and hostility in the air. He frowned and shook his head. "Something's wrong," he commented as he scanned the devices before him.

"What is it?" Jack called out from the back seats.

"Oh shit!" Jacob swore as he looked down into the facility.

While it remained impossible to make out any individuals during their rapid descent towards land, both Revan and Jacob could clearly make out several signs of a firefight. Trees surrounding the recycling plant were ablaze with flames and heavy artillery canons were firing superheated plasma at the buildings themselves. With his Force heightened senses, the Dark Jedi could also see several tiny burst ripping through the air, indicating to him that smaller skirmishes involving handguns and rifles had also broken out. They were about to land in the middle of a hot zone.

"EDI, can finish the landing?" Revan inquired as he threw off his safety belt.

"Negative," she responded over the speaker system. "My systems are not as fully integrated with the shuttle as they are with the Normandy itself."

The Sith Lord swore loudly. "Everybody, hang onto something!" he shouted at the back end of the shuttle. Everyone quickly complied as the ship took a nose dive and Revan put them into a full on free fall. Jacob and Garrus both grabbed onto nearby handle bars for support, crying out nervously as they did. Jack snarled defiantly as she held onto her seat for dear life. The ride had a lot of turbulence as they rocketed towards the ground at nearly one hundred and eighty miles per hour. "EDI, tell me the last possible second I can safely pull out of this!" Revan ordered the computer.

"Acknowledged," she responded.

"Are you fucking serious!" Jack screamed from the back.

The seconds ticked by. About twenty went by before EDI gave the signal. "Now!" she shouted. Upon hearing that word, Revan pulled up on the wheel, ripping the Kodiak up into it's normal position. The sheer momentum from their fall continued to drive the ship downward but he quickly compensated by typing the correct commands into his console. The landing thrusters activated and the ship came down safely in the middle of the clearing.

"Let's go," Revan ordered as he got up and moved into the back. The vertical door lifted upwards, allowing him to exit. The much more disoriented crew behind him took a second to collect themselves before following.

Everyone brought their weapons out and to the ready. On Revan's signal, they all sprinted forward. Before too long, the team discovered themselves in the midst of a firefight. The Blue Suns had taken cover behind various pieces of machinery and equipment. Every once in a while, they would pop up from their concealed position and fire at what looked like two fully armored Krogan. They were huge. While Revan had only seen still images and videos of their race, Garrus, Jacob, and Jack all had firsthand experience with the hulking creatures. The two Krogran that they were staring down were far larger than average. Even Urdnot Wrex, who in Garrus's opinion was larger than normal for his people, would have been dwarfed in comparison. They also appeared to be more durable. Several punctures, many of which oozed yellow bile-like fluid, could be seen across its armor. These injuries didn't seem to be slowing them down in the least.

The Blue Suns, on the other hand, were not faring well against their opponents. Several blue armored corpses littered the ground and only three of the remained to fight the Krogan. Seeing an advantage, the nearer of the two brutes leapt forward from his unconcealed position. Running head first into bullet fire, the beast burst into the mercenary ranks and began to decimate the enemy forces hidden there. With hulking arms swinging to and fro, the Krogan grabbed one Blue Sun and hurled her into a trio of her companions. Before they had a moment to recover, it had leapt in the air and came down upon the foursome with an incredibly heavy body slam. While Revan and his team couldn't be sure if the force of the attack had killed them, the sound of bone and armor crunching most certainly emanated from the flattened soldiers. They were out of commission for the time being.

The half-dozen or so remaining Blue Suns had directed all of their fire on the Krogan that had engaged in close quarters contact. Their combined gunfire managed to rip through its armor, causing more of the yellowish blood like substance to pour out. The Krogan howled in blood rage and attempted to tackle a nearby Sun. Unfortunately for the alien, the wounds that it had sustained were too great and it at last succumbed to its wounds. Keeling over dead, it made a loud thump when it hit the dirt floor. The mercenaries had no time to celebrate their victory. The Krogan's companion, who had kept a distance and continued to fire on the mercs with its shotgun had seen his ally's death and had flown into a berserk state. It hurled its weapon at the closest Blue Sun, striking him directly in the head. The force of impact sent the man staggering, giving the remaining Krogan enough time to close the gap between them and tackle the poor guy to the ground. The mercenary landed head first and Revan was fairly certain that he heard the man's neck snap upon touching the ground.

The Krogan brutally managed to dispatch the remaining Suns with little effort, though it did sustain several gunshot wounds in the process. More yellow blood flowed freely from the perforations in its suit. It had been severely weakened. Revan felt that the advantage had swung towards the Normandy crew.

Moving from his concealed position near the Krogan, he came out with both hands up and nonthreatening. "Hello!" he bellowed out to the berserker. The Krogan turned to look at whoever had spoken to him. The sight of four more people didn't do well for its rage. Beneath the dented helmet that it wore, a vicious snarl could be heard. It charged towards the group at full speed, like a tank that had lost control of its treds on a sharp decline.

"Shit!" Jack swore as she hurled a quick Biotic warp at the oncoming Krogan.

The aura of azure light struck it directly in the head, throwing the brute off-course. It veered off to its right and slammed into a nearby rock formation. Before it could recover, Garrus moved in close with his sniper-rifle and planted the barrel directly into the Krogan's helmet. Without hesitation, the Turian fired a high caliber round directly into the downed alien's head. It penetrated the thick poly-weave headpiece and struck the savage Krogan's brain. A few spasms later and the Krogan was dead.

Garrus stepped back and glanced to his teammates. "These things are vicious," he muttered as his mandibles flared.

"No kidding," Jack agreed as she kicked the dead body ruefully. "One of my shots should have creamed the bastard."

Revan stepped forward and squatted down beside the dead body. With gloved hand, he touched one of the bullet wounds in the deceased Krogan's armor, smearing some of its yellow blood across his fingers. Granted, the former Sith Lord would freely admit that he knew next to nothing about this species of alien. All that he had time to study were the data files that Miranda had given him aboard the Normandy and those were somewhat lacking in biological information. Still, he could sense small gaps in the Force within the Krogan before him. It was as if there were tiny, maybe microscopic, machines inside of it.

"That would explain that," he muttered to himself as he stood up straight and absent mindedly wiped his hand off on Jacob's armor, much to the other soldier's disgust.

"Ugh," the dark skinned man grunted. "What would?"

"Nanites," he replied. "These creatures have been upgraded."

"How can you tell that?" Jack inquired with a tone that clearly expressed her doubt in his assessment.

"Because I can," he replied vaguely. He turned back to his three crewmen as a plan began to formulate in his mind. "I'm going to use the shuttle to clear a path for the three of you. Press forward and kill any stragglers in your way. We'll rendezvous at the facility where Okeer is supposedly hold up."

The former Dark Lord turned his back on the trio. Jacob, who had technically been designated team leader, scoffed at the order. "Hold on!" he ordered as he grabbed Revan by the shoulder and attempted to turn him around. Reacting more out of instinct than anything else, Revan spun around and kicked Jacob in the upper chest, which sent him sprawling backwards and caused the former Alliance marine to crash into the floor painfully.

Before Jack or Garrus could respond, Revan straightened up and continued towards the shuttle. "Don't ever try to give me an order again!" he shouted back as reached the craft.

The former Sith Lord hopped into the shuttle and the team watched as the doors closed up and the vessel took off. Jacob stood up just in time to watch his shuttle fly off, into a war zone. "Damn it!" he shouted into the air.

"The fucker just made off with our ride!" Jack snarled bitterly. "I'm gonna kill him!"

Jacob activated the communications device lodged within his ear, hailing the Cerberus Kodiak shuttle that Revan had just stolen. "Revan, this is team leader. Abort. You do not have authorization to proceed."

He waited a moment for a response but none came. He swore angrily and turned to the other two. "We proceed with the mission," he stated. "When we're done here, we'll hail the Normandy for extraction. We can worry about Revan later."

"Aye, aye," Garrus responded. When no response came from Jack, Jacob gave her a dark look. The biotic woman sighed and shrugged.

"Fine," she muttered in response. "But when this is over, don't get in my way!"

"Yes ma'am," the Cerberus Operative answered.

"We should get moving. Revan might be a good distraction. We might be able to slip into the base undetected," Garrus suggested.

Just as the Turian finished speaking, a loud explosion could be heard in the near distance. The trio looked up, though they were unable to see anything from their current position. However, all three of them silently ventured to guess that Revan had opened fire on Blue Sun forces. Shaking, his head, Jacob broke the silence.

"Let's go!" he ordered with a deathly calm.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: So I know I've been gone awhile but I'm back and trying to update as often as I can. As a point of curiosity, do you guys think that I should change the rating on this story? Although there's still not any mature rated sexual content, Jack does tend to use a bit of profanity. What's your opinion?

**From Across the Galaxies  
Chapter VIII: The Warlord**

Operative Miranda Lawson sighed as she stepped out of the Normandy's medical center, tossing her bloodied gloves into the adjacent incinerator as she did. Stepping into the galley, the young woman took a seat and massaged her temples idly. The last few hours had been stressful. The medical procedure carried out on Commander Shepard had been an experiment. Sure, both Alliance and Cerberus scientists and doctors had carried out similar surgeries in the past. When the biotic programs first started and combat implants were being developed, patients had originally been outfitted with L2 units. While powerful technology that had seen some spectacular results with viable military application, the side effects had been severe. The eezo draw had put too much strain on the synaptic relays in the brain, resulting in consistent and extreme migraines at best. Less fortunate subjects had experienced neurological breakdown, resulting in insanity and death. When the L2's had been phased out and replaced with the safer but less powerful L3 implants, some patients had desperately sought out a transplant, replacing the older units with a new one.

The results varied. Since implants were rooted so integrally into the brain during the initial implantation process, removing one was complicated and required the utmost precision. Moreover, there were no known cases of failed L3 implants, such as Shepard's, and therefore there had never been a need to extract one. Though unlikely, there had been a possibility that side effects not seen in L2 removal may have been present with the newer models. Fortunately, it didn't appear that any such problems had cropped up. She and Dr. Chakwas had successfully removed the defective biotic device and replaced it with a more advanced Cerberus L5 model. When he regained consciousness and put it to the test, Shepard would likely find a vast improvement in his biotic abilities.

Miranda silently thanked any listening higher powers that may have been listening, though she didn't really believe in such things. Before she could get comfortable or relax at all, one of EDI's holoprojector's activated and the spherical shape of the ship's artificial intelligence system popped up.

"Operative Lawson, there is a situation with the mission," the mechanical voice replied.

Miranda swore under her breath and turned to face the projector. "What is it, EDI?" she asked. Even the inexperienced AI could tell that the interruption was less than welcome but the report that she had received from Jacob hours prior seemed urgent. If Miranda had not been involved with such a delicate surgical operation, the machine would have spoken with the acting commanding officer much sooner. She would not wait any longer now that it was unnecessary.

"Operative Taylor reports that Revan has stolen the Kodiak shuttle. Operative Taylor, Subject Zero, and Archangel are at a strategic disadvantage."

"Damn it," the Cerberus operative cursed as she slammed her hand on the metal table. Shaking her head, she stood up and started walking towards the ship's lift. "Tell Joker I want the ship in the air in two minutes. We're going to cover them."

"Yes ma'am," the computer replied.

* * *

Just outside the Kaibur Recycling Facility, Jack unleashed a slew of four letter expletives as explosions overhead rained debris down on the Cerberus Fire Team. Using a biotic field to deflect some of the falling rubble, the biotic woman stood up straight, glancing back at her two companions with something that couldn't even generously be called concern. Both were hunched over, shielding themselves from any potentially falling material. A thick coat of sweat had broken out over the trio. The last few hours had been harsher than they had expected, especially with Revan abandoning them with their only escape vehicle. Unlike Jacob and Garrus, who kept whining about their tactical disadvantage, Jack just wanted to take out her frustration on something. They had come across several Blue Suns and augmented Krogan. What she had done to them had not been pleasant. Both men had made mental notes to stay off of her bad side in the future. Jack was pissed.

"Come on you pussies!" she shouted at them as she pressed forward towards the facility.

Running forward, Jack spotted two Krogan augments, each wielding black market shotguns. The azure aura of a small mass effect field surrounded her as she charged onward and the two brutes found themselves being lifted off of the ground and into the air. Jack left at one of them, grabbing its gun and spinning it around on him. She pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation, blowing straight through the armored suit her target wore and spraying yellow blood across the ground. Shifting the focus of her field, the bald woman tossed the now dead Krogan at its companion before shooting him as well.

The minor skirmish didn't slow her down in the least. Jack simply tossed the shotgun aside and kept running. Garrus and Jacob, who were having trouble keeping up with her to begin with, sighed as they quickened their pace. This charge of Jack's had been going for quite some time and the two experienced combat veterans hadn't logged a single kill in that time. Jack had been doing all the work for them, unless one counted all of the damage that Revan was doing in the sky with his stolen shuttlecraft.

As the trio progressed onwards towards the facility, Revan knew that he needed to finish up with the shuttle as soon as possible. After circling the island for a couple of hours and making pinpoint strikes on vulnerable locations, he was running low on fuel. He needed to get in as close as possible and ditch the vehicle so that he could make his way to the objective marker with as little resistance as possible. Using the grid that was sprawled out before him on the shuttle's navigation system, he picked what looked like an open spot in the Blue Sun base. He would just need to clear the landing area of any hostiles and then he'd be on his way.

Making the strike took less than a few minutes. The vessel banked down towards an open catwalk where only a few soldiers stood guard and they were too busy firing at the rebelling Krogan forces below to notice the Kodiak coming towards them. Two precise shots from its cannons were enough to blow away a large section of the catwalk, taking the mercenaries with it and providing him with a clear space to park. The shuttle set down and the door lifted open, allowing the Sith Lord to exit. He pulled his submachine gun from his belt and held it defensively as he approached a door into the Kaibur plant. Using the Force, he simply ripped it from its frame and proceeded inside. A few Blue Suns along the way needed to be dispatched, though that hardly took effort. Once their lifeless forms had crumpled to the floor, the Dark Lord proceeded onward. The Krogan forces didn't seem to have penetrated the building, which made his job simpler. His only obstacles were mercs and automated defense systems, neither of which concerned him. Most of the men were too busy dealing with the Krogan rebels and he sincerely doubted that any turrets would be set to target humans. Why bother with specific friendly fire coding when the enemy force had a single biological signature?

Revan slowly made his way up the flights of stairs, dealing with any opposition that came his way. Eventually, he reached what looked like a scientific lab office. The main reception area was wide open. Apparently personnel had already evacuated. When he moved into the next room, he found another locked door, which he removed from his path with a simple flick of his wrist. The force with which the door ripped away caused part of the wall around it to crumble as well, kicking dust and rubble into the air. A shrill shriek pierced the air, catching his attention. He took a cautious step into the hole in the wall, gun raised, and frowned. Standing hunched over in the corner was an Asari woman dressed in a green lab coat. Revan cocked his head at the woman.

He didn't sense the same vile or vicious intent coming from her as the rest of the Blue Suns. Moreover, he hadn't seen anyone of her species until this point. Her presence was a curiosity to him. Distant explosions and gunfire urged him to shoot her and be done with it but he stayed his hand. She looked up, glancing at him in fear. The alien watched as he lowered his gun and bid her come forward. Nervously, the blue skinned woman approached, hesitant to get close to the strange man.

"What do you do here?" he inquired softly.

"I'm a programmer," she replied with a twitch in her voice.

"For what? What is this installation?"

"We're trying to clone Krogans," she explained. "I created the mental imprint program that Okeer used on his tank breds."

"Artificial conception," Revan mused. "Your program seems to have a few flaws."

"They rushed production," she defended. "I said I needed at least another two weeks before we began imprinting but they didn't listen. All they could think about was money."

"How did you get involved in all of this?" he wondered aloud.

"I worked on a project to cure the Krogan genophage two years ago. Warlord Okeer heard about my work and had me brought here. Forced me to work for him. I never wanted any of this to happen!"

Revan sighed. If he had felt any pity a moment prior, it vanished in an instant. "You would have let your work be used like this?" he demanded as he took a single paralyzing step forward.

"No, I didn't- please no!" she stammered as she felt something poke upward into her stomach. A single _bang_ rang out and the Asari's eyes went wide. She looked down, only to see the barrel of his gun buried in her belly. Her knees went limp and she collapsed to the floor, bleeding profusely from the injury. The small round had penetrated her gut, passing through some of the minor organs before proceeding to knick her spine. Though her injuries were probably not very severe, the damage to be nervous system sent her into a state of paralysis. The alien woman probably remained entirely aware of her surroundings and of the agony of her wound. She would bleed out in time and live long enough to experience all of it. Revan felt no remorse for the cruel act. As a scientist, she controlled her own work. The fact that she chose to let it fall into dangerous hands just to avoid dying disgusted him. In his mind, the poor woman got exactly what she deserved.

Stepping over her limp form, he proceeded into the main laboratory. This door slid open as he approached and he found himself in a very spacious area filled with heavy grade technology. Empty aquatic tanks lined the glass walls of the room and the only person inside appeared to be a hulking Krogan, far larger than those with whom he had squabbled until this point. Revan recognized the man from the briefing aboard the Normandy. This was the famed Warlord Okeer.

The Krogan looked up from the computer console where he typed and scoffed. "Took your sweet time," the warlord snarled. "The batteries on these tanks won't last long."

"Our intel said that you were a prisoner," Revan stated as he stepped into the room.

"A Krogan warlord is never a prisoner. They attacked. I fought back. I'll die before they put me in a cage." The statement was so matter of fact that it caught the Revan's focus. The Dark Lord couldn't argue the point. In all honesty, he respected it. It was a policy that he himself had adopted back in his own galaxy. The fact that a Jedi strike team had managed to take him prisoner long enough for the High Council to reprogram his mind was a black mark on that record though. Revan reached Okeer and extended a formal hand in greeting.

"Darth Revan," he said firmly.

Okeer seem surprised by the gesture but accepted it with a chuckle. "And why have you come to my aid, Darth?" he inquired as he went back to typing.

"I'm part of a team. A strike force. We're recruiting."

"And you've come to me?" the Krogan mused. "Interesting. And what is the purpose of this team?"

"We're going after the Collectors."

It took a moment for Okeer to mull this idea over in his head. "The Collectors are a concern," he acknowledged. "A human concern. My concern is for the Krogan."

"Name your terms," Revan ordered, not particularly fancying the idea of drawing this conversation out any longer than necessary.

Okeer smacked a button on his computer and a motorized sound filled the room. Revan looked in the direction from whence it came and saw that the metal cover shielding one of his cylindrical tanks was rising up. Slowly, the floating form of another Krogan was revealed inside of the tank. Revan approached it with an interested look.

"Another one of your clones?" he asked.

"Clone?" Okeer repeated with a grim laugh in his voice. "No. Purity. This is the first of a new breed of Krogan. Perfect Krogan. He was bred from the data of a hundred life times! His DNA is not based on any one template. It's the culmination of every Krogan trait in its most perfect form!"

Revan reached out and touched the glass of the tank as he examined its occupant. It didn't appear to look any different from any other Krogan that he had met, though his experience with the species was still minimal. He also knew that looks could be deceiving. If this figure was a perfect Krogan specimen, the Sith Lord was interested. His own engineers had looked into a process of using the Star Forge, an ancient space station powered by the radiation drawn from local suns, in order to create genetically perfect clones. They had never quite succeeded. The clones in his galaxy had always gone mad or degenerated. It was one point where he had to admit to the superiority of this point in space. If Okeer had created a truly original life form with an enhanced genetic makeup, he had succeeded where some of Revan's best minds had failed.

"What about the other Krogan out there?" he asked as he turned back to the warlord. "Prototypes?"

Okeer simply nodded. "This process was as much trial as data and luck," the alien stated proudly. "There were hundreds of rejects. I gave them to these mercenaries in exchange for the money to finance my endeavor. But the leader, Jedore, wants this specimen. A perfect Krogan. Free from all weakness. Gah! Not meant to work for some human."

"Cured of the genophage?" Revan asked.

Okeer let out a triumphant laugh upon hearing the inquiry. "No!" he barked at the Sith Lord. "Perfect in spite of it. I have inflicted the greatest insult to the genophage that any opponent could. I've ignored it!"

"Well done. So this is what you want in exchange for your help? Protect your progeny?"

The warlord nodded. Before Revan could say anything, the doors slid open again and a trio of figures swarmed in. The Dark Lord recognized them as his Ceberus companions. The three looked a little worse for wear but overall didn't seem to be in bad shape. Their armor had sustained in damage and Jack appeared to be covered in blood, though Revan couldn't identify a source and assumed that most of it was not hers. Upon glancing at him, all three looked angry. Jack snarled and balled her hand into a fist.

"I'll kill the son of a bitch!" she screeched as she approached him violently.

It was Okeer who stopped her. The hulking Krogan threw himself between Revan and the young woman, extending a warning hand towards her. "Not here!" he growled.

Though not particularly afraid of any one Krogan, the sudden movement was enough to surprise Jack into stopping. Jacob and Garrus came up beside her, with Garrus putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. Jack snorted and shoved it off before turning to Revan.

"When we're done here, I'm going to peel the flesh from your bones," she hissed through grit teeth.

"Looking forward to it," he returned without so much as a hint of nervousness in his tone. "Call the ship for evac. We need to load Okeer and his equipment and get out of here."

"What equipment?" Jacob asked the warlord.

Okeer simply turned and gestured towards the tank where the tank bred Krogan floated. The Cerberus Operative's eyes narrowed. "Who is he? Your son?" the man asked.

This caused the Krogan warlord to chuckle. "You could say that," he replied. "I won't be joining you on your mission if you do not evacuate him."

Jacob sighed but nodded. "Prep the tank for transport. I'll hail the Normandy. Revan, you're to stand down until the mission is completed."

"I won't be doing that," the Dark Lord spoke as he crossed to the viewing area and looked down into the facility. "We have a problem."

Garrus followed him over and nodded in agreement. Coming towards their position was a small army of Blue Sun forces. Just doing a quick count, the Turian would have guessed that there were at least thirty troops coming towards them, flanked by a dozen or so mechs. At the rear was a single heavy mech exoskeleton, which was being piloted by another Blue Sun. "Damn," Garrus swore as he ejected the spent thermal clip from his sniper rifle.

With a simple thrust of his arm, Revan punched a hole in the glass, shattering it and providing an opening between the enemy forces and the Cerberus group. He turned to Garrus. "I hope you're good with that thing," he remarked to his companion. The only response the Turian provided was to take quick aim and pick off one of the Blue Suns in the front row. Revan raised an eyebrow as he watched the mercenary's body collapse to the floor and the men and women around him scramble.

"Cover me as best you can," the Dark Lord ordered. He turned to Jacob and Jack. "Jack, you and I are going to hit the ground and throw as much chaos at them as humanly possible. Jacob, stay here with Okeer. Get that tank out of here!"

Before his commanding officer could protest, Revan climbed up onto a computer console and threw himself out the broken window. He plummeted down approximately twenty-five yards before flipping himself upright and using the Force around him to provide a soft landing. A moment later, Jack landed beside him. The blue aura around her indicated that she had used a warp field to achieve the same effect. The pair dove in opposite directions. Revan took cover behind a nearby metal pillar while Jack ducked beneath a pile of technological junk. The Suns had seen them land and were certainly aware of the threat.

Simply to test their response, Revan stepped out of cover and unloaded a thermal clip's worth of rounds from his submachine gun. There was little effect. His rounds were not as high caliber as the one Garrus had used to snipe one of their men and didn't immediately penetrate their advanced shielding or barriers. He needed to go bigger. He considered hurling his lightsaber into the fray and telekinetically controlling it to dispatch as many of them as possible but that technique required a great deal of concentration. In the middle of a hot zone where a stray enemy could round the corner and pick him off while his guard was down, it seemed less than wise to proceed.

"I could turn their own power against them," he mused as a dangerous plan formed in his mind.

Ejecting the spent thermal clip from his weapon, Revan waited until he heard a new one slide into place and took a deep breath. With speed granted to him by the Force, he ran out into the midst of the Blue Sun crowd, firing off stray shots to keep them distracted. As he went, he watch biotic fields snatch a stray merc here and there, from which he could infer that Jack was already thinning the ranks for him. As he continued to run along, a high impact rounds hit the enemies closest to him. Garrus was laying down some impressive cover fire. It didn't take him long to break into their ranks, sending them into a frenzy, and approach the large heavy mech that approached him.

He leapt into the air, towards the mech, and landed on the pilot's canopy. With a heavy handed strike, he shattered the glass and grabbed the Blue Sun woman sitting inside by the throat. Revan lifted her out of her seat, breaking the safety belts in the process, and tossed her aside. Given her slightly more advanced armor and use of the heaviest weapon, he could only assume that this woman had been the leader. Jedore if he recalled the briefing correctly. Slipping into her place, he took control of the mech and opened fire on the Blue Suns. Using the minigun built into its right arm, he ripped through their shields and watched as spurts of blood and organs went flying through the air.

Up above, Garrus Vakarian raised an eyebrow as he watched Revan gun down the mercenaries with their own mech. He had to hand it to the other man. His style may have been reckless but it yielded results. The Turian vigilante briefly considered what good a man like Revan could have done on Omega before shrugging off the thought and picking off another foe with his sniper rifle.

The mech moved slowly. Its frame was large and clunky. It vaguely reminded the Dark Lord of the Basalisk war drones used by the Mandalorians by their invasion of the Republic, though the Neo-Crusader exoskeletons had been far more advanced. This machine was its own worst enemy in terms of speed. Whatever it was using as a power source couldn't compensate for the immense weight of its hull and this quickly became a problem for the Sith Lord. A lone Blue Sun, desperate and stupid in the heat of battle, pulled the pin on a frag grenade and hurled it towards the mech. Revan saw the oncoming projectile out of the corner of his eye and tried to compensate with his vehicle. Throwing his weight against the controls proved fruitless. As the heavy machine started to turn towards the mercenary who had attacked, the grenade's eezo core ignited and sent shrapnel flying in every direction. The small explosion hit Revan indirectly, causing flying metal to bypass his armor and striking him in the stomach and chest. The short burst of flames also passed over him, burning his face and singeing the short stubble on his cheek.

It took a moment for everything to properly register in his mind. When it did, his thoughts raced at a breakneck speed. He cursed his own mistake. By breaking the canopy of the heavy mech, he had left himself vulnerable and exposed. That grenade wouldn't have reached him if the glass had been between them. Instead he had been to cavalier, believing himself to be invulnerable against these less advanced peons. As the sharp pain reached him and his breathing started to labor, he realized his mistake.

Glancing down at his chest, he saw the small jagged piece of metal embedded there. Between the hardsuit itself and the shard sealing the injury, no blood was visible to his eye but he could feel the injuries quite well. Given the location, he could assume that it had missed his heart but it was probable that his lung had been nicked. The second appeared to have ruptured his stomach sack. Digestive fluids and acids were probably spilling into the rest of his body and it was probably that bacteria and toxins from his organs may have spilled in and started into his digestive stream. He needed medical attention sooner rather than later. Within a short time, his body would go into shock and he would become worthless in this fight.

A normal man would have been taken out of the fight at that point but Revan was no normal man. The Dark Lord possessed the resolve of Mandalorian Warlord and the drive of a Krogan looking to breed. He steeled himself against the pain and fixed his eyes on the man who had thrown the grenade. Although he probably didn't have the strength to lift the mech's enormous arm and use the canon, he did have enough energy to withdraw his hand from the mechanism and grab his submachine gun. Revan took aim and pulled down on the trigger, sending a barrage of ultra-fine grain rounds at his assailant. The sheer number of rounds broke through the man's energy shields and ripped his armor apart. Bursts of crimson blood sprayed from the entry wounds and the man collapsed to the ground, dead.

Revan pulled himself from the cockpit and fell out of the Blue Sun mech. There were still at least a dozen mercenaries that had survived his onslaught and they were aided by a few humanoid sized drones. Hitting the ground with a thud, the Sith looked at his enemies and saw his dilemma. He didn't have time to swap out the thermal clip in his gun and his breathing was compromised by the damage to his lung. Engaging them with his lightsaber didn't seem practical. Instead, he looked to his side and used his mind to lift the broken form of a downed light mech into the air. Gesturing towards the group of Suns closing in on him, he threw the metal form at them. It didn't strike any but it did cause them to dive every which way, scattering them.

Jack snorted when she saw the kind of trouble that Revan had gotten himself into. She muttered an insult beneath her breath before mentally juggling the idea of leaving him to his fate. He had stabbed her and the others in the back when he had stolen their shuttle before. With a shrug, she discarded the notion. If anyone was going to kill the bastard, it was her. Tapping into the power of her L5 implant, she began to glow with a pulsating blue aura of light. The psychotic woman ran out into the open, charging towards one mercenary woman. Without even using her biotic talents, Jack grabbed the woman and snapped her neck with minimal effort. She then turned and flicked her wrist towards two of the small mechs. A mass effect field erupted between them and started pulling inward with impressive force. The two mechs smashed into one another within the field and were crushed against each other's frames. The bald woman turned next to a Batarian that was approaching Revan with an assault rifle raised. She used her foot to kick up a fallen pistol from the ground and snatched it with her bare hand. With two precisely placed shots, she executed the alien and was onto the next. Before she could kill another target, sniper fire from Garrus rained down, killing another two enemies. In less than a minute, the Cerberus team had executed four mercs.

Revan's vision began to blur as oxygen starvation slowly came upon him. Using the Force, he tried to stabilize himself. He had learned how to survive without breathing for periods of time in the past but that ability seemed lost to him now. He needed to concentrate and that seemed impossible when crippled by pain and suffocation. He watched as his teammates continued to fight their opponents but there was little he could do. Eventually, he simply collapsed to the ground and passed out.

"You son of a bitch!" was the last thing he heard before falling into unconsciousness. No doubt it had been Jack to say it.

Upon seeing their companion fall, everyone in the Cerberus group panicked. Jacob in particular, who had stayed out of the fighting to this point, cursed violently and slammed his hand against a control console. Tapping the comm. link on his ear, he barked "Miranda, where the hell are you!" There was a thick buzz of static before a reply came.

"Hold your position. Normandy in bound in two minutes!"

Two minutes was too damn long. The former soldier turned to Okeer and pointed. "Let's go. They need our help!"

Okeer chuckled and shook his head. "Not without my prototype."

Jacob scoffed at the sentiment but Okeer simply stalked away and walked over to his tank-bred. He began to disconnect the power lines and the Cerberus officer could tell that it was pointless to argue. With a groan, the operative ran towards the nearby staircase and headed down to join the fight. He pulled his M-22 Evicerator shotgun from the back of his belt as he burst out onto the terrace with the others.

The rest of the skirmish took less than ten minutes. Between Garrus's sharpshooting, Jack's biotics, and Jacob's military efficiency, the group managed to dispatch the remaining mercenaries with only a moderate amount of effort. Once they were all down, Jacob ran to Revan's position and slid down beside him. He rolled his teammate onto his back and leaned in, listening for the sound of his breath. Sure enough, he could faintly hear and feel air passing from the Sith Lord's nose.

"Miranda, we need medical evac!" he shouted into his comm. The dark skinned man looked up at Jack, who approached slowly. She had an angry sneer on her lips and her hands had balled into fists. "Back off!" Jacob cried out to her as he put a hand out to start her.

"I'll kill him!" the bald woman growled.

"You can kill him when he's awake and can defend himself. I won't let you hurt someone who's out cold!"

Jack folded her arms and grunted. She turned and looked up to the balcony where Garrus was standing. "What's going on up there, scar face?" she called up.

The Turian turned back to the lab and shrugged. "Everything seems fine!" he yelled back. "And I think I see the Normandy!"

"Tell the doctor to get a gurney down here. I want Revan in the medical wing now!" Jacob ordered. He looked up at Jack. "Go help Okeer!"

"Oh for fuck's sake," the woman sighed as she rolled her eyes and started up towards the lab.

* * *

Alliance Lieutenant Ashley Williams stepped into the Citadel Council chambers, flanked by two C-sec escorts, and approached the large bench at the far end of the room. It stood elevated about twelve feet above the ground and the four council members stood behind it. Each had a computer console in front of them and were typing idly. As she crossed the long room and moved towards the large open area in front of the bench, an Asari secretary standing to the side of the councilors stood up.

"Lt. Williams, thank you for coming," the violet skinned alien stated.

This brought the attention of all four councilors to the new Spectre, who felt uncomfortable standing in front of them on her own. Though she had stood before the council as a part of the Normandy crew more than once, the majority of their attention had been set on Shepard at the time. The young woman never considered how much pressure that her friend had endured by just talking to the main governing force in the galaxy.

"You summoned me?" she said shakily to the politicians. Ashley looked up to Councilor Anderson for support and was relieved to see a reassuring smile in return. This calmed her enough to face the others with something resembling confidence.

"Lt. Williams, we have information related to your mission," Councilor Sparatus, the Turian man in the center of the group, stated gruffly as his mandibles flared. He clearly wasn't in a good mood, which didn't bode well for the soldier.

"Yes sir?" she asked.

Tevos, the Asari councilor, spoke next. "The Normandy has been spotted. We have word that it was on Omega eleven days ago and witnesses and security cameras place it at the scene when the Purgatory penitentiary was destroyed six days ago."

"It's a cold trail, Williams, but it's all we've got," Anderson acknowledged. "We want to send you into the field."

"Do we know what he was doing on Omega and Purgatory?" Ashley inquired, trying to figure out how they wanted her to track down the Normandy with nothing but a lead that was six days old.

"Word from the local leadership on Omega says that he took two of their key players and recruited them onto his team. You already know Garrus Vakarian. The other was a Salarian doctor named Mordin Solus."

"Garrus is with Shepard? Have we tried contacting him?"

"Negative," Valern, the Salarian, replied. "Vakarian's been a rogue element for months. He wouldn't help us."

It made little sense to Ashley that the council wouldn't at least consider the possibility of contacting the former C-sec officer but she didn't say anything. Instead, she logged the info away for later and decided to reach out to her old friend at the next opportunity. When she did speak, all she said was "Is there anything else that you can tell me to find the Normandy?"

Anderson nodded grimly. "We found out who traded Shepard's body to Cerberus after the attack on the first Normandy," he replied. "The information broker on Illium."

"Who is it?"

"Brace yourself, Williams. It's a friend of yours. Dr. Liara T'soni."

Somehow, that information didn't surprise Ashley very much. After the first Normandy's crew had been broken up, Liara had been distant and the Alliance soldier had heard that the Asari had made her way out to the information capital of the galaxy. The fact that Liara was operating as an information broker didn't seem that strange. Even selling Shepard's body made sense. Although they had never been returned, Liara had possessed feelings for her commanding officer. She had never been vocal about them but everyone aboard had been well aware. Unfortunately for her, Shepard hadn't shown any mutual interest. He had started a relationship with Ashley and the two soldiers had been happy for a while. Liara had quietly kept to herself from that point on but the young alien had taken Shepard's death very hard and had insisted that it wasn't over. If Liara had believed that Cerberus had even the remotest chance of bringing Shepard back to life, she would have committed just about any illegal act to do it.

Nodding, the Spectre turned and looked up at her superiors. "That makes Illium my next stop then," she stated resolutely.


End file.
